The Johto Story Rarely Told
by Axel Schaudenfreude
Summary: Cyndaquail is the one everyone likes. Totodile gets stolen by Silver. But what happens to Chikorita? See the answer as a young trainer named Nicholas goes on a journey with a Chikorita ready and eager to prove herself to her new trainer. As trainer and Pokémon travel they'll face challenges, trials and various other Trainers. But what else would you expect from Pokémon?
1. Chapter 1

This is a disclaimer. It disclaims stuff. I do not own Pokemon.

 **(INTRO)**

In the land of the Johto Region, a young boy started on his journey to take the Pokemon Gym Challenge. His ambiton? To hopefully become the champion.

Taking his partner, a Cyndaquail, and leaving New Bark Town, this young man, named Ethan (or Gold to his friends), left on an exciting journey of dreams and discovery.

This is not that you expected it was, considering how many Gold stories there are, isn't surprising, but it is a little sad.

This is the story of what was left behind, the Pokemon not stolen and the Trainer who probably should have seen that he was being used by a Pokemon Professor. That said, he wouldn't care either way.

This is the story of Nicholas, a boy so eager for a Pokemon journey he completely forgot that he has no experience at competitive battling. But hey, you can do anything you can set your mind to, so whatever.

 **(ELM POKEMON LAB, NEW BARK TOWN)**

Professor Elm, the world's foremost expert on Pokemon breeding, was a calm, collected individual, who was at times a little scatterbrained.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He was, however at this moment, dealing with a Pokemon who had proven routinely that she had as more eager for adventure than common sense.

As it turns out, having a rare and precious Pokemon stolen from right under your nose would make anyone a little nervous about it happening again. Thus, in his nervousness Professor Elm may-or-may-not have stopped Chikorita from leaving the lab as often as she used to.

In retaliation this Chikorita scattered all of the Professors new reasearch notes, which he'd spent all night trying to finish.

Suffice to say, neither of them was happy with the consequences of the Professor's decision.

Now the papers were scattered all over the floor, and the Professor grumbled aas he picked them up.

Suffice to say the professor was not a matter of fact...

"THAT'S IT!" shouted Elm."I've had it! Are you really so upset that you're the only pokemon here now?"

Chikorita responded by blowing him a raspberry.

"You can't really be upset that you weren't stolen, can you? That red-haired boy was crazy! You're lucky you weren't stolen."

The Chikorita huffed and went into her little corner to sulk. The Professor heaved a long suffering sigh and tried to think things through.

 _There's got to be a way to get her to stop moping, or at the very least, get her out of here so she'll stop trying to burn off excess energy attacking ME!_

He still had the bruises to justify his mental rant. That Chikorita hit hard.

The Chikorita was, for want of a better term, adventure hungry. The fact that she'd been rejected by two trainers this week was probably making her a little antsy about ever getting chosen and getting out there to show what she could do.

Then the Professor saw the answer to one of his many problems. Nicholas, a young boy interested in Pokemon training, had managed to fill in the river alongside New Bark Town. Why he had done so hardly mattered at this point.

He was the solution.

Now, normally Professor Elm would never dream of dumping a Pokemon on an unwitting trainer. However these were not normal circumstances and he liked to think that, in the event that a Pokemon got left behind and started taking it out on a Pokemon Professor, said Professor would do what he had to to get the Pokemon from attacking him.

Also, if the Professor just happened to be knocking out two Spearow with one stone, well, that was just a benefit.

And so, the story begins for Nick and his Chikorita.

 **(WITH NICHOLAS)**

Nicholas emerged from the river soaked to the bone. He was a boy of eleven, of average height, with what his mother called his father's hazel eyes and hair colour. Which made his dad a nut-eyed ginger. Or at least he saw it that way to make it funny. His hair also seemed to be perpetually shaggy.

One small victory was he had managed to keep his mom's pink backpack dry. There was too much of his mothers stuff from her own Pokemon journey in there to get it wet, which would surely result in him getting yelled at. Especially since she didn't know he'd borrowed it.

Of course, his Trainer Card was in his pocket, but it was a highly durable plastic anyway. Chances are, it was plastic for any trainers who fell into rivers, which he'd heard happened alot.

Nick laughed as he realized something: he was in the clear. The Pidgey hadn't seen him, so he wouldn't be chased by an angry Pokemon today.

"PIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGG."

Or he'd spoken too soon.

The Pidgey had decided to attack, and while normally that was okay, he hadn't borrowed his mom's Pokemon today. Scooping up his bag, he did the rational thing and ran like hell!

He ran as fast as he could to his home, the Pidgey hot on his heels.

On the porch his mom was waiting for him, having found out he'd gone out without her knowledge."Nicholas where have yo-" she was abruptly cut off when the Pidgey, apparently realizing it could dive bomb him from that high, proceeded to do just that.

His mom shouted a hasty "Furret, use Scratch!" as Nicholas rolled to avoid the Pidgey's attack and his mother's Furret leaped up to Scratch the Pidgey.

The Pidgey screeched and, having figured out it was out of it's league, beat a retreat almost as hasty as Nicholas's own. The only real difference was the Pidgey wouldn't be in trouble when it got home. Right now, Nicholas was in trouble for the whole not-telling-mom-where-you're-going thing.

"So Nick, where exactly were you?" His mother's tone, while pleasant was betrayed by the way stiff posture she had adopted.

In moments like these, Nick knew he had to be calm, so as not to enrage his mother further than she clearly already was. While his mother was only a little shorter than average, she had red hair, dark brown eyes and wit he was pretty sure could cut razor blades. Or atoms.

Write now his mom wore a knee length sundress and sandals. Nick wore a red shirt and a pair of khaki pants with some black sneakers, all of which were soogy.

"Well, you see mom there was a thing with a guy who needed a-"

"Nicholas", she said, cutting him off mid-excuse."Never mind that. For now. Professor Elm wanted to talk to you." She was still mad, but was clearly she was as confused as him. Sure, Professor Elm lived in New Bark Town, but he was usually busy with some Pokemon related matter. Maybe he needed help moving something.

"Sooooo, am I off the hook or...?"

She glared at him and said,"Nicholas. Leave now before-."

He dumped the backpack and ran as fast as he could before she made good on whatever her threat turned out to be.

 **(IN FRONT OF ELM'S POKEMON LAB)**

Arriving at the Professor's lab, Nick took a moment to look at the double-story building, trying to find the reason for Elm wanting to talk to him. Not that he wasn't famous, even if it was for constantly being chased by mad Pokemon, but the Professor was a busy man. Why would he call-

The door abruptly swung open, one of the Professor's Aides standing in the doorway."Ah, Nicholas, welcome to the Elm Pokemon Lab."

Nick smiled uneasily and said,"Nice to be here."

The Aide gestured that he should come in and, ignoring how wet his clothes were, said,"Come in, the Professor's waiting for you."

Nick followed the Aide into the lab, and stopped dead. The place was packed! And not just with books, but also with notes, machines, a few computer terminals, a few Aides and Nick.

Just then a green streak rocketed out of the back room and rushed straight to the door, which unfortunately put Nick in it's way.

Nick had no time to react as the streak Tackled him, knocking him onto his butt. He wrapped his arms around the Pokemon, though it stopped after the shock of jumping against a soaking wet Trainer. He got up and held it away from his body to get a better look at it. It wasn't the first time a Pokemon attacked him, but usually he had the pleasure of knowing what it was before it hit him.

The Streak was a small, quadrapedal Pokemon with what looked like little green buds forming a necklace on it's neck, red eyes, a single nail on each foot and a large leaf protruding from the top of it's head. It was a light green all over, with only its leaf and buds being a darker green. It was now looking at him with an odd mixture of shock, frustration and...hope?

The Professor hurried out of the back room with a Pokeball in his hand, most likely the ball of the running Pokemon. He was a tall, slender man with light brown hair, a slighty pointed nose and circular glasses. At the moment he looked like he'd gotten into a fight with Nick's mother's Furret.

"Oh, ah, hello Nicholas", said the Professor as he tried desperately to straighten out his coat.

Nick smiled and cleared his throat and offered his hand. "Actually sir, Nick will be fine. My mom calls me Nicholas when I'm in trouble."

The Professor took the offered hand and asked,"Oh, so not often?"

"Every other day."

"Oh." The Professor looked to be at a loss for words,which grew worse when he realized Nick was soaked and dripping on the floor, before he latched onto something he could talk about."Well, I bet you're wondering why I called you here."

"I might have forgotten after the...whatever that was."

"Uh, right, well." The Professor had no idea how to say what he was asking for. "Nick, I have a favour to ask of you."

Nick was surprised. There wasn't really any reason for a Pokemon Professor to request something of anyone but his Aides, since it was what they were paid to do.

"First though, what is it?" he asked, already suspicious. He was like that.

The Professor cleared his throat and said,"Well Nick, I'm sure you're well aware of the break in that occured in the lab?"

"Yes sir, the whole town is still talking about it."

"Oh", said the Professor."Good things?"

"They say it was one of the greatest screw-ups in the history of Pokemon Professors."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. Someone asked if you were going to resign."

"Well that's-"

"And that's not counting what the police said about you to-"

The Professor abruptly asked,"Nick are you a registered Pokemon trainer?"

Nick just stared, then asked,"Yes, why?"

A soft snuffle drew his attention to the Chikorita, which had taken the liberty of falling asleep in his arms, despite how wet he was. He was a little nervous as to what to do with it now, but the Professor, noting the sleeping Pokemon, said,"Oh good she's asleep."

Nick looked at the Professor and then asked simply,"Yeah, but why?"

The Professor blinked and then said,"Well, she was running around all day and it was hot. Your soaked clothes probably helped her cool down quite a bit, and after all that running she should be tired. But onto why I called you here." Here he took a deep breath."Nick this Chikorita's is the Pokemon that wasn't stolen. She has an incredibly adventurous spirit and seeks to go on a journey to grow stronger."

Nick blinked and asked,"Really?" Now he sounded interested.

The Professor said,"Yes, well the thing is that she wasn't chosen either and, as a rare Pokemon, I can't just let her go running around on her own. She needs a Trainer, if for no other reason than to show her the world."

Nick waited, and when the Professor said nothing else went,"This is where I come in right?"

The Professor smiled and said,"Well, seeing as she needs a Trainer and you're intersted in Pokemon training..."

He looked at the Professor and asked,"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" He had unintentionally caught his breath at the word 'Trainer' and was still holding it as he awaited the Professor's answer.

The Professor's smile grew as he asked,"Nick would you like to be this Chikorita's trainer?" He paused, waiting for Nick to answer.

It took him a second, but Nick finslly remembered to answer."YES, YES!" Then seeing how the Professor was looking at him he forced himself to show less excitement and said," I mean sure, you know, if you're offering."

Raising an eyebrow, the Professor said,"Okay Nick. If you're going on a journey you should take a night to rest and get to know your Pokemon, as well as tell your mother. By tomorrow I'll have some advice for you as well as any tools you may need as a Trainer. For now though, here's Chikorita's Pokeball."

Nick looked at the Pokeball in his hand, awestruck, and finally said,"Thank you Professor."

The Professor smiled and said,"Don't worry about it. You both have goals that require each other's help. I'm sure you and Chikorita will get along great. Now get going befor your mom comes looking for you."

Nick grimaced and asked,"Now why'd you have to bring that up? I was so happy to get a Pokemon too."

Nick turned to leave and turned back at the door and said,"Thanks again Professor."

The Professor only said,"Believe me, it was my pleasure."

As soon as Nick was gone an Aide rushed to Professor Elm and asked,"Is it gone?"

Professor Elm smiled and said,"Yes, but remember we still have to see if they take to each other."

The Aide nodded and asked,"So should I prepare his gear?"

The Professor smiled. If there was one thing he loved about his job, it was seeing new Trainers going on their way, knowing he had helped them start their adventures. He looked at the aide and said,"Of course! In fact I'll help." _I just hope that Nick and Chikorita hit it off. Or that she's at least grateful to get a trainer. I'd hate to have to deal with her again._

The Aide turned back to the professor and asked,"Why did Chikorita Tackle him anyway?"

"She thought he was in the way of the door and saw it as the quickest way to get him out of the way so she could get out."

The Aide continued on his way, now sure that the Professor had made the right choice in giving that Chikorita away.

The only problems they faced as they prepared Nick's gear was when the Professor slipped on the puddles of water Nick had left behind.

 **(END CHAPTER 1)**

AN:This is my first fanfic so if I suck let me know. Gold (or Ethan) will follow the plot of HeartGold, while Nick will deviate slightly on some the plot of SoulSilver. Of course most of what happens in the games will have to be cut out since Nick is not doing what the player is doing, but what happens after. Chances are Gold will make some cameos though. Tell me if there are any Pokemon that will balance out Nick's team and if you don't be warned that I'm planning.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't Pokemon, though I'd like to.

 **(AFTER NICK HAS LEFT THE POKEMON LAB)**

Nick was exhilirated. He'd gotten his first Pokemon! It was all he could do right now to stop from running around proclaiming to the world that he'd gotten a Pokemon. But Chikorita was sleeping and if he did that she'd wake up. Plus he had to get home soon since it was getting cold and both he and Chikorita were wet now, though she was less so than him.

With that in mind, Nick hurried back to his house. On the porch though, he remembered what was going on before his mother gave him the perfect excuse to get away: Professor Elm's call.

 _Hopefully she's cooled down by now_ , he thought as he opened the front door, wary of the slight squeak the door tended to make when opened.

Nick lived in a simple home with one bathroom, one living room, one kitchen and three bedrooms (not necessarily in that order).

Nick listened and caught the faint sound of his mother singing an old tune that was used to promote the Pokemon Gym Challenge a few years back. The song was usually sung if she was reminiscing on her days as a Pokemon Trainer, thinking of his dad (whom she'd met on her journey) or if she was trying to calm herself down. Now though, it would mask the sound of his footsteps as he snuck back into his room.

Nick walked as quickly and softly as he could past the kitchen and into his room, closing the door softly behind him as he entered.

His room was sparcely decorated, though he liked to think that was part of it's charm. He had one wardrobe with a few drawers next to it, a bed with white blankets and a red pillow, a black clock hanging on the wall, a map of Johto next to the clock and a desk with a computer and some of his reading books on it, some of which were research books written by Professor Oak. The others were notes he'd made in notebooks, diaries and one unfortunate dream journal about Pokemon from various TV shows and radio broadcastes.

He moved slowly to the bed and, doing his best to make sure Chikorita didn't wake up, gently lowered her onto the bed. It made a soft noise as he placed it on the bed then, as he placed a blanket on it to keep it warm, attempted to snuggle deeper into the folds.

Nick quickly moved into the hallway so he could figure out what to do from here.

 _I should probably let Chikorita sleep for now, if she's as tired as the Professor said. I guess I'll just talk to my mom then._

Nick made his way back to the kitchen in the hopes of surprising his mom (or startling her, he wasn't picky), but was instead greeted with a soft,"Did you think I didn't know you were here _the whole time_?"

Nick gulped and said,"Well to be fair I think I'm very stealthy. I once snuck past a Sentret."

He walked into the kitchen to find his mom at the stove cooking what appeared to be some sort of steak. "You get that sense of false stealth from your father. And chances are you didn't sneak past the Sentret, it let you pass."

Nick sat down at the kitchen table and said,"What did I get from you again? My razor sharp wit, perhaps?"

His mother turned from her cooking to look him in the eye. "A minor Pokemon obsession. That and a reckless streak I really wish had skipped a generation. So, what was Professor Elm's request?" She tried to say it nonchalantly, but Nick could see how curious she really was. She was leaning forward slightly, trying to make sure she didn't miss anything.

Nick smiled as he remembered that the Professor hadn't told his mom anything. Now, he knew his mother could tell if he lied. But now was the best time to put it to the test, even if it carried the risk of him getting in trouble.

"The Professor needed my help with an important task."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, apparently he thinks I'm the only Trainer in New Bark who could do it."

"Huh. So what did he ask you to do?"

"I need to collect a rare gemstone from a cave in Kanto."

"The Fibber Caves?"

"Yeah, the Fib ... you knew huh?"

"That you were lying? The Professor called the minute you left my backpack on the porch. Plus you're a terrible liar. I _always_ know when you're lying."

Nick sighed a deep sigh and continued in a depressed sort of tone,"Well, now that I can't lie or sneak around my career as a master thief is going down the toilet. I'll never get into Team Rocket at this rate."

"Well, there are other careers you could apply yourself that are less risky. And Team Rocket disbanded anyway. For now though, tell me what really happened at the Lab."

Nick muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'good for nothing Rocket's couldn't steal from a Baby Pokemon anyway' before he continued. "Well, the Professor started talking about the robbery and how there was this Chikorita that didn't get taken. Apparently it really wanted to go on a journey, but it couldn't because it didn't have a Trainer."

As Nick watched the lightbulb went off in his mother's head."So did he..." she trailed of, knowing he would fill in the blank.

Nick smiled as he said,"That's right. I've been given a Pokemon and permission to go on a journey from a Pokemon Professor. A real honour, if I do say so myself. And all it took was breaking the record for 'Most Wild Pokemon Attacks Without a Pokemon of Your Own'."

His mother glared at him and asked,"What about my permission Nicholas?"

Nick put on a nervous smile. The difficult part would be getting his mom to go along with it. "Well mom, since were both reasonable adults and I've repeatedly proven myself eager - even a bit reckless - to go out exploring Johto, I'd like to ask you if I could go on a Pokemon journey with my new Chikorita. So, may I?"

His mom stared at him for such a long time that Nick worried she'd say no. Then her face broke out into a smile as she said,"Of course Nick. You just needed to ask, after all."

Nick got up, smiled and hugged his mother. "Thanks mom. I'll make you proud."

He could almost hear the smile in his mother's voice as she replied. "No problem. I was proud when you broke the record. Even if you almost broke your leg trying", she said reproachfully. Then he could hear the smirk in her voice as she asked,"So, does Chikorita know you're going to go on a journey? Or that she's even your Pokemon?"

Nick smiled his nervous smile again and said,"Well I'm going to go tell her now, if she's awake. If not, the I'll have to wake her up."

"Good luck. You'll need it if she ends up not liking you."

"Gee, thanks. But first, a shower, a change of clothes and a meal."

"Anything specific?"

"Flannel pajamas. And ramen noodles."

 **(AFTER A SHOWER, CHANGE OF CLOTHES AND A STEAK (NOODLES WERE UNAVAILABLE))**

After a quick shower, Nick felt a lot better. Of course he was still nervous about waking Chikorita, but considering how they'd met that wasn't surprising.

 _Sure hope it likes me, otherwise mom will start gloating about how she was right,_ he thought as he opened the door.

And froze.

There, laying on the bed, was the Chikorita. Or, from what he could determine, should be the Chikorita. It was in almost the exact same position it was in before, but it had snuggled into the blanket so much that the only way he found it was to find the lump in the bed where it was laying. It was moving around alot though...

Nick carefully made his way to the bed and tried to untangle Chikorita from the blankets it was caught in. At the first tug the Chikorita's head popped out of the bundle of blankets and stared at him as he froze.

 _Think fast Nick,_ he thought.

"Um, hi there Chikorita."

It was still staring. Probably at the 'Oh Crap' smile which betrayed his nervousness.

"Now I know what you're thinking. 'Who is this handsome and debonair stranger who has appeared before me? Why am I in this strange, sparcely decorated room? Should I make a break for it? And are there any snacks?' "

The Chikorita nodded at the last three questions and nodded at the 'stranger' part of the first.

Nick soldiered on. This could be his last chance, after all, to get a Pokemon as cool and rare as Chikorita. "Well, since you don't care about the clearly handsome stranger, I'll explain the others first. This is my room, you don't need to run since I won't do anything to hurt you _and_ you're safe and warm here, the snacks are hidden under the bed (albeit not very well from a certain Furret and its Trainer) and the handsome stranger is the boy who wants to be your Trainer."

The Chikorita listened in stunned silence then hopped off the bed and, crawling under it, retrieved the snacks he'd mentioned. Nick watched it struggle with a bag of chips before he reached down, took the bag from it and opened it.

Chikorita gave a small nod of thanks and hopped on the bed with bag of chips in it's mouth. Nick sat down next to it. Chikorita set the bag on the bed and proceeded to eat the chips in what he thought was supposed to be slow and methodical manner, but really only made it look like it was really hungry. It would repeatedly scarf down as many chips as it could at a time, which made its cheeks bulge right before it started chewing.

Nick coughed to get Chikorita's attention, and it's head turned sharply in his direction, cheeks looking as if they were about to burst. "So as I was saying, I want to go on a Pokemon journey. I also have it on good authority-"

The Chikorita coughed and smirked at him.

"Okay, at this point questionable authority that you also want to travel and grow stronger."

The Chikorita nodded, then frowned as it realized it had eaten all the chips in the bag.

Nick handed it a bowl of Pokemon food he'd brought from the kitchen as he asked,"So since we both want to travel, I was wondering if you'd let me be your Trainer? That way we could go on a Pokemon journey together."

Chikorita froze mid-chew and looked at him, considering his proposal. Then it nodded, finished chewing, swallowed and said,"Chiko."

Nick felt the smile break out on his face as he said,"Thanks Chikorita. I promise I'll do my best to be a good Trainer. We've got to go to the Lab tomorrow before we go on our journey, but after that we'll go as soon as we can. Right now though I've got to introduce you to my mom, you'll love her."

Chikorita hopped off the bed an made its way to the door then stopped, clearly waiting for him to open it.

Nick got up to open the door for Chikorita, then stopped as he remembered there was something he'd wanted to ask it.

"So Chikorita you're a girl right?"

Chikorita turned to stare at him, then started laughing as she nodded.

Nick huffed as he opened the door and said,'Pardon my asking."

Chikorita stopped laughing, but she kept looking at him and giggling when she thought he wasn't looking. She stopped smiling when he was looking anyway.

Nick found his mom in the living room watching a movie with Furret.

"Mom."

His mom gave a short shriek and jumped, then glared when she realized what had happened.

She turned to him as she said,"Nick."

Nick smirked as he asked,"What did you say about me not being able to sneak around?"

His mother was about to reply when Furret caught sight of Chikorita and came over to mother, catching sight of Chikorita, asked,"So is this the Chikorita the Professor gave you?"

Nick looked down at Chikorita and smiled as she looked uneasily at Furret.

"I prefer 'entrusted' to gave, but yeah this is her."

His mother came over and picked Chikorita up, carefully as if she were measuring her weight.

"Well she certainly looks healthy," she noted. "Though I never would have guessed you'd get a rare Grass-type Pokemon like Chikorita."

"Well what can I say? I'm just that amazing."

His mother muttered 'Unlikely' under her breath then asked,"So have you given her a name yet?"

Nick blinked, the smile melting off his face. "A name?" he asked.

His mother glared at him reproachfully as she said,"Of course. You can't just keep calling her Chikorita. There are so many that if you saw another and called 'Chikorita' they'd both look up at you and wonder who you're calling. It's an embarassing sight I've had to see too many times to count. One of them was your father, by the way"

Nick thought about it for a moment before he heard his mother say,"It's best to nickname your Pokemon. They'll grow closer to you if there's a special name you call them by and it sometimes aids in a battle."

That settled it.

"Alright Chikorita you're getting a nickname! Just give me a minute..."

Nick thought for a few minutes and then thought of something he'd heard from a friend once.

"I've got it! I'll call you Amica, Amy for short. What do you think?"

The Chikorita smiled and nodded as she said a quick 'Chikoriiii!'

Nick's mother smiled as she set the newly dubbed Amy on the ground and said,"Well I suppose you both should be getting ready for your Pokemon journey. So go pack your bag."

Nick smiled as he picked Amy and said,"Sure mom, I'll pack a bag."

His mom thought for a moment then said,"You know, you should take the pink bag. It definitely holds more than the others and it's been on a journey before. I can personally vouch for its abilities."

Nick looked at his mom and said,"Thanks again then. I had no idea where to get a bag and I was getting a little worried. That solves one problem at least."

'What's the other?"

"Whether Amy will sleep on the bed, the floor or in her Pokeball."

 **(THAT NIGHT, NICK'S ROOM)**

After packing the things he'd thought they'd need in the pink backpack, Nick turned around and saw Amy crawling into the bed.

Rather than tell her to get off his bed Nick simply smiled ruefully and lifted the blanket so she could crawl under it. She gave him a small nod in thanks then curled up and went to sleep.

Nick gently pushed her to the side, careful not to wake her, as he crawled into bed himself and lay there, thinking about what tomorrow would bring them. He fell asleep around the midnight.

 **(END CHAPTER 2)**

AN:I feel as if I should explain. Johto was the first (and best) sequel to Pokemon Red and Blue in many peoples eyes, and in HeartGold/SoulSilver the Pokemon nobody takes eventually disappears. That's where the idea for the story came from. Also, google translate says 'Amica' means friend. Since she's his first Pokemon it seemed appropriate at the time. I'm looking up parodies and jokes to see if I can add more humor so if you have any advice let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Pokemon, because Pokemon are our partners, not our property. I also don't own the franchise, though that I do want to own.

 **(NICKS'S ROOM, MORNING)**

Nick woke to the sound of Pidgey and Spearow and the sunlight streaming into his eyes. He grunted and silently cursed whatever moron had left his curtains open, then cursed again when he remembered _he'd_ left the curtains open.

Nick rolled over and yawned, then stretched as his mind caught up with the rest of him. There was something he was forgetting...

 _AMY!_ he thought. She wasn't on the bed with him and he was horrified that he might have kicked her off the bed in his sleep or rolled over her or maybe even both!

Just then Amy walked past his door and stared as Nick frantically tried to get out of bed, falling over as the blanket tangled around his legs. She shook her head at his antics and said a short 'Chiko' to get his attention.

Nick got up from where he'd fallen over and saw Amy standing there staring at him as he picked himself up.

"It'd be really cool if you didn't bring this up when we meet other Pokemon. Agreed?" His cheeks a bright pink as he asked.

Amy nodded and hurried off, eager for breakfast and the chance to gossip to Furret about what had just happened. After all, she'd already _met_ Furret, so he didn't count.

Nick sighed and finished getting dressed in a pair of jeans, red shirt, black jacket and blue sneakers, then looked at the backpack he was taking for the journey. It looked different from when he'd fallen asleep, though he wouldn't put it past his mother to have repacked his stuff while he was sleeping.

Nick hefted the bag onto his back, then made his way down the hall. The smell of his mom's cooking was already wafting around the house, and his stomach growled as he made his way to the kitchen.

As Nick entered the kitchen he noted three things: nobody was in here so they were probably eating in front of the TV, his food was sitting on the kitchen table (untouched) and there was a large brown box sitting on the floor with a note that read 'Dear Nick' taped to it.

Nick hurriedly ate his food, coughing as some of it went down the wrong pipe, then opened the box so he could hurry to the Professor's Lab. In the box though he found five Pokeballs, another note with somebody's phone number, a thick, leather-wrapped textbook (an encyclopedia?) with a Pokeball symbol on the front, a pair of shoes and a letter. He started with the letter. Maybe it would give him some insight.

 _Dear Nick_

 _I hope you understand your Pokemon journey should be started as soon as possible. As such I've enclosed all the necessary tools you'll need as a trainer in this package. The Pokeballs are for catching any wild pokemon you may encounter, though they'll be destroyed if the Pokemon in question breaks free. The phone number is mine, in case you'd like to report about how Chikorita is doing or if you have any questions. The book is an encyclopedia of all the Pokemon recorded in Johto (they're arranged in the same order as a Pokedex) and the shoes to inrease your running efficiency. Good luck on your Pokemon journey._

 _Yours Truly,_

 _Professor Elm_

 _P.S. I enclosed a basic recipe for Pokemon food for Chikorita and any other Pokemon you may catch on a page tucked into your encyclopedia._

Nick smiled as he read the letter again, wondering again at how unselfish a Pokemon Professor could be when the mood struck them.

 **(ELM POKEMON LAB)**

"Sir, was it necessary to go to such lengths to keep Chikorita away?"

"I'm a Pokemon Professor. I was doing what I thought would hurry the boy and his new Pokemon along onto a journey they both clearly wanted. That said, yes it was necessary. That thing scares me. And Nick will benefit from getting Chikorita away fro- I mean, starting his journey as soon as he can."

The Aide shook his head at how a Professor who studied pokemon could have developed a wariness of one. Though, the weariness may have been reserved only for that particular Chikorita, it was still odd.

 **(NICK'S HOME)**

Nick put the book in his bag, put on his new running shoes, put the phone number in his Pokegear and put the Pokeballs in his pants pocket.

 _Note To Self: Get one of those belts with holsters for shrunken down Pokeballs,_ he thought.

Nick hurried to the living room, where he noted as he entered that his mother, Furret and Amy were all sitting watching the weather report. He caught only a brief snippet of what the reporter was saying-something about rain- before he announced,"Mom, good morning. The Professor sent all my Trainer tools through the mail, so I can leave anytime I want."

His mother looked at him thoughtfully and said,"You don't waste time do you? Well at any rate I was wondering what that package was. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised the Professor saw that you'd want to get going as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I'm eager to get out there and become a famous Pokemon trainer."

"Yes, though at the moment me and the Professor are the only ones who know you're a Trainer."

Nick huffed and said,"Well, it's always good to start small and work your way up. I'll be known soon enough."

As Nick put his bag on his back and got ready to leave his mom said,"Nick wait, first we have to talk about something." She sounded uncertain about something.

Nick raised an eyebrow, already suspicious, and said,"Okay, though we've got to get going soon."

His mom bit her lip and said,"Nick I want you to know that there are things you know even less about than just Pokemon battles. Things that I may have neglected to tell you. Things that you can only do with the right..." here she struggled to find the right word. "Partner."

Nicks eyes widened as he said in a horrified tone,"Oh Mew, this is going exactly where I think it is, isn't it?"

His mother glared at him sternfully as he backed away, slowly. "Now Nick, this is something we need to talk about. I will not have you coming home one day telling me about some unfortunate-"

Nick abruptly cut her off by shouting,"Amy, run! She's giving us The Talk! It's horribly scarring, terribly traumatic and incredibly awkward!"

With that Nick and Amy bolted out of the house and Nick's mother was left staring at the door in shock.

Eventually she figured out what he'd been worried about and wondered aloud,"The Talk?"

 **(ROUTE** **29** **)**

Nick and Amy had run half way to Cherrygrove by the time they decided to slow down.

"We...will...never...speak...of...that...again," Nick said between panting breaths.

Amy nodded her head in agreement. She had no idea what her Trainer was panicking about, but it had to be bad if he'd run without listening to his mother.

As they walked Nick began to notice more and more the various Pokemon that seemed to be taking cover. The only reason he could think of was that they were probably afraid of having to face him in battle, since he was after all incredibly knowledgeable about Pokemon battles. The sky darkening could also have been the reason, but it was less likely.

Nick raised his head to look at the rain clouds and thought about the weather report he'd ignored earlier in the living room. Just as he remembered the 'rain' part the first drops started falling.

Nick looked down at Amy and cursed that he'd left her out of her Pokeball. She must have been cold in this weather, and now it was raining. He quickly led her under one of the trees that were dotted around the route.

Just as they prepared to sit the rain out they heard a sound that sounded like a lot of scuttling feet. They looked up, scared of what they may find and saw...thirteen Sentret. They were growling, probably because Nick and Amy had encroached on their territory. Nick briefly wondered if he could bribe them to leave him and Amy alone, then dismissed the idea when they moved into a crouching positions and he remembered he didn't have anything that would be valuable to wild Pokemon.

Nick silently cursed his mother and her habit of tempting fate, while Amy readied herself to defend her Trainer.

The Sentret jumped down as Nick grabbed Amy and darted away from the tree. The Sentret took off after them, no doubt trying to defend their territory. Nick could recognize the signs, though he had hoped to avoid those signs once he left New Bark Town. He threw a rock at them in the hopes of dissuading them from attacking, then regretted it when one was knocked out and the rest ran faster, forcing him to pick up the pace.

Amy was, at first, frozen in shock that instead of letting her fight, Nick had picked her up and run. Now though she began struggling. She couldn't just let him run from them! She needed to prove she was a powerful Pokemon, needed to prove that those Trainers had made a mistake in leaving her behind and, most importantly, she needed to prove to Nick that she was worth keeping.

Amy twisted out of Nick's arms and turned to face the approaching Sentret. She was scared, but she wouldn't let her Trainer, he who had given her the chance that nobody else had, get hurt! Her muscles tensed as she readied herself, determined to fight the approaching Sentret.

'Amy we've gotta-" Nick stopped as Amy turned to look at him, her expression changing from a fierce, determined glare to a soft, pleading look.

 _She wants to fight,_ Nick realized. _No, she needs to. There's something about this fight that she needs. I'm not sure what, but I should at least trust my Pokemon. She deserves that much._

Nick nodded and, as the Sentret came upon them, he shouted,"Amy, do a Tackle!"

The Sentret had formed what appearred to be some sort of arrow-head-looking formation. Now, Amy threw her weight into the oncoming throng of Sentret, knocking three of them out as she hit them as hard as she could and broke said formation.

Nick yelled 'Amy, Tackle and return' and watched as the Sentret, who hadn't recovered from Amy's last Tackle, were once again hit, though this time from behind.

Nick's breathing was heavy. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through him and it felt... bizarre. He wasn't the one fighting, he wasn't even doing anything (except yell orders), but he could almost feel everything. How his Pokemon felt when she'd Tackled the Sentret. The strain of her muscles when she jumped back to avoid an attack. It was indescribable.

Dragging himself away from his musings, Nick said,"Amy, try a Growl attack."

Amy nodded and growled a loud 'Chiko!', scaring the Sentret. Their fear would make them to hesitate when they attacked, a huge advantage against the Sentret's numbers.

Suddenly, the Sentret stepped back, allowing one of them to come to the front. This one was different. It seemed more confident, stronger and, for some reason, sleaker. Though the latter could have been the rain.

This Sentret took on a fighting position while the rest moved to watch from the sidelines. Amy stared in surprise at the lone Sentret that had deigned to fight her alone. Nick wondered why the Sentret would _allow_ a single one of them to challenge Amy by himself, especially when she'd already proven herself stronger than them.

 _Come on Nick,_ he thought to himself. _Focus on the here and now. Worry about the why later._

"Alright, your funeral. Amy, Tackle it!"

Amy shot towards the lone Sentret, expecting an easy win. The Sentret however, dodged her Tackle at the last second so suddenly that she almost crashed into a tree, barely swerving out of the way in time.

Nick stared in surprise then said,"Amy, try another Tackle."

Amy, now more than a little irritated, attempted another Tackle. This time the Sentret curled into a ball and, when Amy Tackled it, rebounded against a tree and knocked against her. She cried out in shock as she was knocked to the floor, but stood back up within a few seconds. The Sentret uncurled itself and smiled a smug smile at her.

 _This is bad,_ thought Nick. _If she doesn't get out of this rain soon, she could get really sick. And this Sentret and it's pals don't look like they're letting us go anywhere without a fight. This all bodes poorly._

Amy however was thinking along different lines. Her thoughts were more on how she was going to beat this Pokemon and how much she would enjoy it when she did. Every second of it.

Nick thought for a second, then yelled,"Amy, Growl at him."

Amy Growled, which seemed to be the only attack that hit this Sentret. It quaked in fear for a moment before its eyes hardened and it dashed towards Amy.

Nick shouted in shock. That thing was fast! Amy didn't have time to respond and was hit by the Sentret's Scratch attack. She jumped back in surprise as the Sentret shot a few feet away to a safer position.

Nick watched, a little worriedly, as Amy's expression quickly morphed from one of shocked surprise to one of anger and pain.

Nick thought frantically. How were they supposed to-

"Chiko, Chikorii!"

Nick looked at Amy, who appeared as desperate as he was. He needed to think of a strategy here. This Sentret wouldn't respond to brute force.

For not the first time, Nick regretted never actually using a Pokemon in a real battle. The best experience he had was playing battle simulators, not that they were any good when it came down to a real fight. Oh his mom had offered of course, but he hadn't thought he'd need it. He could almost hear the smug I-Told-You-So that would come when she heard about this.

Nick almost laughed at their situation. They hadn't run because Amy wanted to battle and now the Sentret would follow them and attack if he ran away with her. Now he was making a similar decision and staying out in the rain when he could duck under one of the trees, just because it wasn't fair to his Pokemon.

For now though, Nick told Amy to keep trying Tackle. He needed time to think of a plan and right now she was the only one who could buy the time he needed.

If only they could get one good shot in. Amy was much heavier than Sentret (dear Mew please let her never hear he had thought that. Women were so touchy about their weight!) so a strong enough Tackle would take it out. But there was no way the Sentret would willingly run...towards...her...

Of course! That would work. First though, he had to set it up.

Amy, who had been trying to Tackle Sentret this entire time, heard Nick yell through the rain,"Hey, so is that the way Sentret battle? I was expecting a little more mettle from you. Why though I'm not sure."

Amy froze, wondeing what was going on. The Sentret was frozen too, listening to Nick and ignoring her.

Nick continued. "I mean, I can see now why you all attacked at once. Your strongest guy doesn't even come close to Amy's level. Attacking all at once was the only way you stood a chance."

The Sentret was visibly bristling in anger now, though whether it was out of both anger for his group (herd, pack?) or anger that Nick was calling him weak Amy couldn't tell.

"Though it does beg the question, why would you challenge her all by yourself? Then the answer came: now that she was sufficiently weakened, you could step in and play victor."

Amy frantically shook her head as the Sentret turned its gaze on her.

"Now Amy don't be modest, you could whoop this guy in a few seconds if you were fresh."

She was shaking her head now, trying to get him to stop angering the Sentret.

"Then again," he thought, as if he was thinking out loud to himself. "Amy has fought stronger foes than you. Like Magikarp. Now that was a real fight!"

It was getting angrier now, almost visibly reddening in rage.

"Not answering. I don't blame you. It's probably taking all your energy to keep running from Amy. Not that you could do anything but run in a fair fight anyway."

 _Almost there,_ thought Nick.

"Don't feel insulted Sentret. I'm sure you're definitely the strongest. Then again, strongest in a pack of weaklings doesn't say much does it?"

Amy didn't even notice him start running. The Sentret rushed her with a Scratch attack, too enraged to consider the implications of such a foolish rush attack.

Nick waited until the Sentret was almost upon her, then shouted,"Amy, power through it and Tackle him with everything you've got!"

Amy responded as fast as she could and barely managed to do as Nick commanded. As the Sentret Scratched her, she took the attack head on and Tackled it as hard as she could. But she didn't stop there, she ran with the Tackle until she slammed it as hard as she could into one of the many large trees that dotted the route.

The Sentret struggled to its feet, then collapsed as the injury took it's toll on it's body. The other Sentret swarmed around the lone Sentret and carried it deeper into the forest, moving out of sight as they took the Normal-Type Pokemon somewhere it could recuperate.

Nick stood there through the Sentret's taking of their comrade. Truth be told he barely noticed it. Amy was standing in much the same way, the adrenaline pumping through her making her own injuries feel nonexistant. Both of them were shocked that they'd managed to win at all and part of the reason they stood so still now was because they were still trying to process it.

Once the Sentret left though, Nick ran to Amy and swept her up into a hug. Amy, surprised at suddenly being lifted so suddenly, lay there in surprisefor a few moments before she smiled and tried to imitate his hugging as best she could. She failed miserably, but it's the thought that counts right?

"We won."

Amy nodded in agreement. They'd survived the Sentrets attack and she couldn't deny the happiness her victory had brought her. After all, first she'd beaten a few Sentret then she'd managed to beat the one Sentret the others had expected to finish her off. And if she enjoyed Tackling that Sentret into the tree more than she reasonably should, simply because she was injuring it, who cared?

Of course, that was the moment thunder had to boom overhead and they remembered they were standing in a steady downpour with nothing keeping them dry.

Nick said wearily,"Well, at least the bag's got waterproof lining."

Amy looked at Nick as seriously as she could, given how much she wanted to laugh.

Then they both burst out laughing, in mingled relief and elation, and hurried on to Cherrygrove City, Amy cradled in Nick's arms.

 **(CHERRYGROVE CITY)**

A few hours later, once they made it to Cherrygrove City, Nick made a Beedrill-line to the Pokemon Centre, easily identifiable by it's brilliant red roof and Pokeball logo on said roof. Or the sign that said 'Pokemon Centre' in big, bold letters. Really, either of these would be enough to tell you it was a Pokemon Centre, but maybe it payed to be prepared. Mew help them if someone blind came along.

Once they made it in, Nick took a moment to observe the spacious enterior, note the well kept waiting room, observe the lack of Trainers and drip on the floor for some unfortunate Trainer to slip on the mess.

 _I'm beginning to think I have to start avoiding large bodies of water,_ thought Nick as he made his way to the counter.

Once there Nick asked the nurse on duty,"Excuse me, do you have any rooms available for Trainers?"

The nurse looked up from her computer and, upon seeing him, went,"Oh my Mew! You're soaking wet."

Nick rolled his eyes and said,"Yeah, it's becoming a habit. About available rooms though-"

Nick was cut off when the nurse noticed Amy and exclaimed,"Oh my gosh, your Pokemon is injured!"

Nick sighed and said,"Yes, observant of you. Available rooms?"

Nurse Obvious seemed flabbergasted for a moment, then said,"Right of course. Room 8 is available. I'll just get your key."

She kept shooting glances at Amy when she thought he wasn't looking and eventually he asked,"Anything I can help you with?"

Nurse Keys-Are-Highly-Elusive seemed surprised for a second before she said," No, it's just while your here, would you like us to examine your Pokemon?"

Nick smiled and said,"Great idea Nurse..."

"Joy."

"Right, thanks Nurse Joy."

Nick handed Amy over to Nurse Joy and, while he waited, decided to to call his mom.

The phone rang for a good five minutes and reception was terrible, but eventually Nick heard his mom answer with a soft,'Hello?'

"Hey mom."

"Nick, how are you? No, better yet where are you? Please don't tell me you got caught in that storm."

Nick laughed nervously as he said,"Ah, well I got caught in the storm. But,' he bulldozed on before she could start," we're out of it now and we're safe and soaked in the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Centre. Amy's getting a checkup and I'm waiting for her so we can finally get a room."

"Good. So, nothing new to report?"

Nick gulped as he remembered the battle with the Sentret and said,"Yeah, about that. We got into a fight with a few Sentret. Then one Sentret. We won, so don't worry."

"How did you win?"

"By taunting the Sentret into making a mistake."

"Didn't I tell you that you'd need some practical battle experience?"

"Moving past the obvious I-Told-You-So, I've got something else to tell you."

A few seconds passed before his mother asked,"Which is?"

"During the fight, I started feeling...odd," he finished.

"Odd how?"

"As if I was taking damage alongside Amy. I was getting exhausted, and even now I've got no idea why. Any ideas?"

"So, it was like you were there in the battle with Amy?"

"Yeah, something like that, now that I think about it. How'd you know?"

"It's a feeling Pokemon trainers get when they battle. They say those feelings are the mark of a Trainer who sees his Pokemon not as tools, but as partners."

"Partners? Was that what you were trying to tell me about earlier?"

"Well, yes. Of course I only figured out what you thought I was talking about when you left."

"I feel like we were having different conversations," Nick muttered wearily. "Made worse since we were having those conversations with each other at the _same time_."

"Well, now you know. And since we've got that out of the way, you've got to get back to your Pokemon and I've gotta get back to trying to shave Furret."

Silence. Nick rubbed his right temple before he spoke again.

"I hesitate to ask why."

"Fur clothes, made from the clothes of your own Pokemon. It's the latest trend. I'm thinking a hat. What do you think?"

Nick visualized his mother wearing a hat that looked like Furret's fur and shuddered. "Scarf. Okay, well see you mom. Good luck with shaving Furret."

"Bye Nick. Now Furret I'll let you borrow a coat-"

As Nick hung up with that disturbing image in his head Nurse Joy called him from the counter. Nick walked over and saw Amy chewing on what looked like bits of Pokemon food.

"Your Pokemon is fighting fit. She had a few nasty scratches, but some ointment took care of those in a jiffy. You should both go take a warm bath and go to bed if you don't want to get sick."

Nick, wondering who still used the word 'jiffy' anymore, said,"Sure Nurse Joy. In fact, we'll go right now. I just need a key."

The nurse blushed and handed the key over.

"Thank you," Nick said, though most of it was to be polite.

Nurse Joy nodded as she said,"Good. It's important to watch out for the health of your Pokemon you know. It's your responsiblity as a Trainer."

Nick nodded and hurried to the baths before she tried to give him a lecture. He had no time for lectures, not at this hour. He needed a bath. Then coffee. A pot of coffee.

 **(AFTER A HOT BATH AND A SINGLE CUP OF COFFEE)**

Nick sighed happily as his head hit the pillow. It had been a long day and he was finally ready to get some rest. Amy was probably tired too, and considering how she'd fought she'd need the rest.

Nick of course soon found himself proven wrong. Amy, still excited from her earlier win, found herself unable to sleep and instead set about reading through the Pokemon Encyclopedia the Professor gave them. She turned the pages, each of them surprising her with the new and exotic Pokemon displayed.

Amy found her own image and information on the first page, then skimmed through the data on her evolved forms. She'd have time to figure that out after all.

However, as the night wore on, Amy found herself immersed in the knowledge of the various Pokemon within the region. Pokemon which she and Nick may encounter.

 _Speaking of Nick_ , she thought and turned her head to look at her Trainer. He was laying on his back, asleep and oblivious to the fact that she was reading his basic Pokemon Encyclopedia.

Amy soon found, however, that the book contained only basic knowledge about the Pokemon, leaving most details (moves they may learn, when and how they evolve, breeding habits, etc.) to be discovered by the Trainers. She huffed and set the book down. She could probably find out any extra information the way all Pokemon did: by travelling and learning. The encyclopedia would give them an edge though, so there was no need to be worried.

Amy hopped onto the bed and crawled under the blankets, curling up as she fell asleep, exhaustion finally taking it's toll. As she drifted off she felt herself being moved closer to something warm and snuggled closer to it gratefully.

 _We'll get an early start tomorrow_ , she thought. _And then we'll finally be on our way._

 **(END CHAPTER 3)**

AN: Let me know what you think about this chapter. Next chapter I want to give Nick a rival, since every growing Trainer needs one. Also tell me what you think of the fight scene, since I don't think I'm too good at them. What Pokemon should Nick catch? Also how do I read your reviews?


	4. Chapter 4

The Disclaimer 4: I Still Don't Own Pokemon. Coming out...right now. Also, to be frank, I'm writing this story to get some ideas out of my head. Chances are I'm already brainstorming which Pokemon Nick should catch. Some **ideas** might be nice though.

 **(ROUTE 3** **0** **)**

Amy breathed in deeply, a serene smile on her face as she walked along the route with her Trainer. It was morning - five o'clock, since Nick felt that they needed to get moving as soon as possible - and they'd left the Pokemon Center. Though Nick had stopped off at the PokeMart for a belt with Pokeball holsters, Potions and a bunch of heal items, they'd soon continued on their way to Violet City and their first Gym.

 _This is the life,_ she thought. _The wind on my leaf, the grass tickling my feet and the smells of nature surrounding us. Nothing could ruin this moment._

Just then a loud thud rang out, which sounded suspiciously like something heavy hitting the ground. Amy sighed and turned her head to see her Trainer sprawled on the ground with his bag, and some of what was in it, lying next to him.

 _Well,_ she amended, _almost nothing._

"Sorry Amy," said Nick as he got up. "I must of tripped on a stone or something."

Today he was wearing the red shirt, jeans and blue sneakers, but had decided against the black leather jacket because of the pleasant weather. The clothes were barely wet anymore and, if they were a little dirty, well that was part of the thrill of being a Trainer!

Amy glared at him a little, but really she couldn't blame him for tripping. There were too many stones and rocks lying around here anyway. It was only a matter of time before one of them tripped, she'd just been hoping it would be her first. Now they'd have to pick up everything that had fallen out of the bag.

Nick quickly gathered some of the things that had fallen and put them back in his bag, then paused when his hands came into contact with a familiar red notebook. Amy looked at him questioningly when he sat down and started paging through it.

 _I used to make all kinds of notes from shows with Professors in them with this book,_ Nick thought. _If there's anything in my notes that can help me it's gonna be in this. Thank Mew mom put this in for me._

He flipped through the pages, searching for something that may help, when his eyes landed on something extremely important. It was marked 'Professor Oak, Radio Talk'.

" 'As a Pokemon grows in physical strength - through battles or other training - they tap into new abilities or powers, affectionately called 'moves' by the younger folk' ," he read. " 'These moves are normally related to the Pokemon's type and can be used in battle to do more damage than basic attacks can, like Tackle, Scratch or Pound.' So basically, a more powerful attack related to the Pokemon's type."

Nick closed the book and put it in his bag, then sat there thinking on the implications of what he'd just read.

 _If Amy got any stronger from yesterday's fight,_ he thought, _then would she have a new move now? There's only one way to find out._

Nick looked curiously at Amy, who looked back at him with one raised eyebrow.

Eventually Nick stood back up and said,"Amy, I want to see if you can do anything new. Like a stronger attack, or something like that." When she looked baffled at the request, he huffed and tried to explain. "I just read a little about it in one of my old notebooks. It seems as if it would be useful to know if you had a newer, better move we could use. Chances are you beating up those Sentret would have made you stronger."

Amy looked at him consideringly, then scrunched up her nose (or the slight bump that qualified) and focused. She did this for a few minutes before her face lit up in surprise. She looked up at him and nodded then settled into her usual battle stance (standing up straight and staring straight ahead).

Nick smiled as excitement rocketed through him. This was another one of the thrills of being a Trainer: watching your Pokemon grow and learn. All he had to do now was tell her to do her new move. He stood up in front of his partner and gave the command.

"Amy, do whatever new move you've got!"

Amy drew back her head then threw it forward, her leaf swishing as it swung. Small, crescent shaped leaves flew from the leaf on her head, spinning through the air as they made a sharp wooshing noise.

Nick was almost ready to jump for joy, elated at his Pokemon having learned a new move, when he realized with a start that a) those little leaves were mowing down all the the grass in their way and b) _he_ was standing in front of Amy!

Realizing this, Nick followed the instincts he'd developed over a long period of being awesome (i.e. being chased by random wild Pokemon) and rolled out of the way as the sharp leaves came slicing past. They cleaved the air as they wooshed by, cutting into one of the bag's side pockets (which, thankfully, were empty).

As the leaves got stuck in a nearby tree, Nick climbed to his feet and said,"New rule: we're teaching you how to aim. And not to fire new moves at Trainers."

Amy nodded in agreement, but as they continued walking she'd occasionally glance at Nick and giggle in amusement. The frown on his face grew everytime she did it.

He grunted and said,"Glad my almost getting injured makes you happy."

She nodded and said,"Chiko, chiko." She said it in such a way that Nick could imagine it meaning 'It does, thank you.'

Nick, deciding to do the mature thing and ignore her taunts. Eventually he stopped walking, turned to her and, with a straight face, said,"You know, you can't beat every Trainer we battle, right? I mean, not forever?"

Amy stopped walking and paused to consider his point. After a minute she nodded.

"Good. Then you also know we're going to have to catch a few new Pokemon if we're going to beat the various Gym Leaders. So, while we're walking, keep an eye out for any Pokemon you think could work well with you _and_ whose types would prove useful. Typing is important."

Amy nodded again and they set off once again, making their way to Violet City. Neither of them noticed the shadow of the Pokemon flying overhead, though Nick did at what point glance at it out of the corner of his eye.

 **(HALFWAY THROUGH ROUTE 3** **1** **)**

Nick stood and surveyed the land before him. The gate/terminal that led to Violet City was only a little way off and wouldn't take that long to get to from here. Nick looked at it, a testament to their determination, and smirked. It was already late afternoon, and they'd been running most of the way here.

 _It's taken time, effort, more battles than I wanted to get into today to get here and one horrible mistake, but now we're here,_ he thought. _Amy's gotten stronger and learned a new move, but now nothing will-_

Just then his phone rang, cutting off his train of thought. Nick answered it hesitantly, already wary who may have called him, his thumb over the call cancel button.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Hey, so you know my super cool Rattata?"

That was as far as he got before Nick ended the call, rolled his eyes and groaned. That one mistake he'd made? Giving that boy - Joey, his name was - his Pokegear number.

Joey was an aspiring Trainer that lived in Cherrygrove. He had a habit of challenging anyone he could find, and had challenged Nick to a battle. Amy had beaten his Rattata with a few Tackles, though the Rattata had gotten a few good shots in. Nick had been so happy to win another battle that he'd thought nothing of exchanging Pokegear numbers. He'd thought all Trainers did it to get more battle experience. Now though...

Nick rubbed his eyes and tried to put Joey out of his mind, but found he couldn't quite pull it off. Joey didn't seem to get the message, even after Nick hung up on him at least three times!

Nick sighed and made to continue on to the terminal, only to feel something pushing against his leg. He looked down and saw Amy pushing against him, stopping only when she noticed he had looked down.

She huffed, gesturing to his Pokeball belt, and said,"Chi chi chiko, chi chiko!"

Nick realized with a start that, even though they'd battled Trainers and Pokemon along the routes, he hadn't caught a single new Pokemon. He groaned and removed a few Pokeballs, then turned and began looking for any new Pokemon.

When he didn't see any Pokemon after a few minutes he turned to Amy and asked,"Should we just go into Violet City by ourselves?"

She shook her head furiously and stomped her foot.

Nick sighed in exasperation. "So, we're basically staying here until I catch a new Pokemon?"

Amy nodded, smiled and gently knocked against him in a somewhat comforting gesture.

Nick sighed deeply and said,"I thought so. It's actually not a bad plan. Well, while we're here, I'm going to review what I know about what you can do. It could come in handy for when we fight a Gym leader. For now though, go practice those new moves you learned."

Amy nodded again and went to practice her new moves (Razor Leaf and Poison Powder). She did one Razor Leaf, then promptly lay down in the grass and began staring at the sky. Nick sighed again and sat down on the dirt path, picking up a stick so he could doodle.

 _Okay, basic revision,_ he thought. _Pokemon have four basic stats that Trainers work on improving: Attack, Defence, Speed and Special. These are important in that they provide the basis of a Pokemon's training (they tell you what to improve on). E.g. the Sentret we faced yesterday was much faster than Amy, but she could take more damage and was heavi- stronger._

He wrote down 'Attack, Defence, Speed and Special' in the dirt and regarded the words carefully.

 _Now, what can Amy do?,_ he thought.

He sat there and stared for a few minutes. Truth be told, all he could really figure out about Amy was that she was something of a tank, taking hits he'd thought would knock her out and getting right back up to keep fighting. He'd never really taken notice of her speed or whether she was strong, but in his defense it never really came up when they were battling. He tried remembering, but nothing really stood out except for her exceptional defence.

Nick sighed and, scrubbing out the words he'd written in the dirt, moved nearer to the tree line and took out his sleeping bag. He looked up and noticed that the sun had set, the night lit with stars and the moon. How long had he been thinking about this?

He walked over to Amy and, picking her up and taking her back to his sleeping bag, said to himself,"Since I'm not allowed to enter Violet City without getting you some kind of a partner, I'm going to start a fire, roast marshmallows, put out the fire, crawl into this sleeping bag and go to sleep."

Just then a soft fluttering drew their attention to the trees near his sleeping bag. They looked up at the branches of the trees and saw a strange feathered Pokemon with red eyes (which certain Pokemon just seemed to have for some reason), strange black markings around those eyes which resembled eye liner and extended past it's head in some sort of arrow shape, and...one...leg.

The new Pokemon looked at him and said,"Hoot."

Nick stared for a few moments, moments in which the Pokemon simply stared back, until eventually he said,"Something like you chased me once when I was out looking at Pokemon too late. Hoothoot, right?"

A single nod from the Hoothoot.

"And you're a boy?"

Another nod.

Nick sighed and said,"Look I'm going to be honest with you, Amy's really tired right now and neither of us is in the mood to fight. So, if you could just go bother somebody else, that'd be great."

The Hoothoot glared at him and hopped off the tree branch. Nick readied himself to sprint away, but he needn't have bothered. Hoothoot flew a little away then turned around and hovered, staring at him expectantly. Nick watched him for a few minutes, waiting for him to make a move, when the Hoothoot flew at him with a Tackle.

Startled, Nick jumped out of the way, almost dropping Amy. She yelped and turned to glare at the Hoothoot, who was flying at them with another Tackle.

Once again Nick dodged the attack and yelled at the Hoothoot,"We're not going to fight you! We can't fight you! Amy's too weak to-"

Amy, abruptly deciding that Nick shouldn't get to finish that sentence, hopped out of Nick's arms - kicking him in the forehead as she did so - and turned to face the Hoothoot.

 _If it wants a fight, it'll get one!_ she thought.

Nick, rubbing his forehead, looked at Amy and asked,"Are you sure? You seemed so tired a minute ago."

Amy nodded, but Nick noticed how her legs seemed to wobble slightly and her eyes drooped a little. She was still tired, but she wouldn't admit it.

Nick thought fast. _This battle can't last long. We need something that'll hurt the Hoothoot and end the battle quickly with minimal effort on Amy's part. But...now that should work._

"Amy, wait until he gets close," Nick whispered.

Amy looked back at him curiously, but nodded in agreement and stood her ground.

The Hoothoot hesitated, puzzled as to why this Pokemon (it's Trainer called it an Amy) would just stand there.

Hoothoot had been looking for a strong Trainer to help him develop his power (or help him learn new things) and had stumbled on the duo almost completely by accident.

Since they'd seemed interesting Hoothoot had observed them for most of the day and, from what he could tell, this particular Trainer preferred brute force as opposed to strategy. His Amy was always commanded to Tackle and relied on only her power in a fight. While it was disapointing, Nick was doing something now that seemed interesting. Why the Trainer was hesitating now he wasn't sure, but if this was an opening he saw no reason not to take it.

Hoothoot rushed at Amy with another Tackle and she looked back at Nick, who seemed to be waiting for something.

 _A few more seconds, aaaannnd, now!_ thought Nick.

"Amy, Poison Powder!"

Hoothoot attempted to swerve away from Amy after hearing that, but he was too close.

Swinging the leaf on her head, Amy threw a strange purple powder at Hoothoot. It got caught in his feathers, poisoning the Flying-type Pokemon. He fluttered away from her, coming to rest on a tree branch a few metres away.

Hoothoot regarded the Amy with cool, appraising eyes. _Poisoning me? Not a bad plan for a long, drawn-out battle. If this lasts too long then the poison will get me before she can. Guess I'll have to- What is he doing?!_

Nick had made a pair of binoculars with his hands and was looking at Hoothoot through them. He seemed to be saying something to Amy, who shook herself awake and stared at where Hoothoot was.

Hoothoot stared in puzzlement as the boy raised three fingers. Was he...counting down? Hoothoot caught the words 'little above' but nothing beyond that, tensing his muscles, awaited the Trainer's next move.

Nick mentally counted down. _3...2...1!_

"Amy, Razor Leaf! As many as you can!"

Amy shook her leaf back and forth furiously, sending waves of sharp leaves at Hoothoot. He flew up to avoid them, only to find (quite painfully) that the Amy had been firing above him on the gamble he would fly up. Hoothoot cried out in pain and shock, then curled his wings close and abruptly dropped to avoid the barrage of Razor Leaves.

Hoothoot opened his wings and hovered above the ground a few inches above the ground.

"Now!" shouted Nick.

Hoothoot looked up at the shout, only to be met with a Tackle courtesy of the screeched in pain as he rolled away from the force of the hit, then struggled weakly back to his foot.

Nick stared at the Hoothoot and it stared back, both of them silently regarding the others strength. Nick knew Amy was probably beyond tired at this point. Hoothoot was still poisoned and wouldn't last long.

In the end, Amy broke the stalemate. She turned around and walked back to Nick, then began angrily gesturing at his Pokeball belt, yelling what were probably obscenities. He looked down at her in surprise before he said,"You know, I would have done it myself. Eventually."

Amy scoffed and walked back to the sleeping bag. As she stalked away Nick removed an empty Pokeball from his belt and slowly approached Hoothoot, moving slowly so as not to startle him.

"Hey Hoothoot, I'm sorry about this, but I need to capture you now so Amy will let me get to Violet City."

Hoothoot stared at him as if he had declared himself to be a Snorlax on a diet.

"Of course, I won't if you don't want to me to, but since you're the only wild Pokemon I've seen since Amy made her absurd request, it would be convenient."

Hoothoot considered his words. Suddenly, a bolt of pain rocketed through his chest.

"I've got Antidotes. They could fix your poison problem."

Hoothoot looked at Nick and nodded once. That was all it took for Nick to walk over and lightly tap the Pokeball against Hoothoot's head. He was sucked into the ball and promptly captured.

As soon as the ball dinged to signify Hoothoot's capture Nick let him out and began rummaging around in his bag.

"Notebook, pajamas, encylopedia," he muttered as he went through his stuff. "Why do I even have this?" he said as he looked at a pair of goggles. "Oh yeah, they're awesome. I'm wearing these tomorrow. Oh hey, there's the Antidote."

He took the Antidote and said,"Okay Hoothoot, drink up. It should cure the poison. I'm going to go set up the tent. You can come over when you're ready, though you should still take it easy for now."

As Hoothoot drank the potion Nick walked back to camp and began setting up his tent. Once he was done he crawled into the tent and layed out his sleeping bag, putting his backpack next to it. A soft rustle drew his attention to the tent flap, where Hoothoot had entered and was inspecting the tent.

Amy followed soon after and, as Nick looked on incredulously, she made her way to his sleeping bag and collapsed onto it. As he stared she got up, made her way to the opening of the sleeping bag and slide in a bit before falling asleep again, her head exposed.

"Um, Amy, you're sleeping in my..." Nick trailed off as he heard the soft snores coming from his sleeping bag. "You know what, take the sleeping bag. It's warm tonight anyway." Nick layed down next to the sleeping bag, staring curiously at this small, determined Pokemon who'd become his partner.

Meanwhile Hoothoot, who began wondering how something with practically no nose could snore, hopped over and started inspecting Amy's face from all angles. When he tried to move her head to get a better look the leaf on her head slapped him, startling him into flying across from Nick on the other side of the sleeping bag.

Nick laughed and said,"You know, I've got a name for you, if you want to hear it."

Hoothoot thought about it for a moment before he nodded.

"Right, well how about Jerry? I'm not into complicated names, and you look like a Jerry to me."

Hoothoot stared at him for a few minutes, surprised at the nickname he'd come up with, before he chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Alright Jerry, tomorrow we continue on to Violet City! While we're walking I'm gonna try to use you in as many battles as I can because, no offense, you kinda sucked and you'll need the toughening up."

Jerry nodded, accepting the constructive critiscism, and motioned for him to go on.

"Once we're in Violet City we need to find out if there's a Gym there and, if there is, battle the Leader. It'll be our first Gym battle and we'll need to train hard for it."

While Nick shivered in excitement at the thought of facing a gym leader, Jerry began thinking of Amy's attacks (or those that he'd seen anyway) in an attempt to see how she had beaten him with so little actual effort.

"Night Jerry."

"Hoot."

With that they both went to sleep, Jerry dreaming of how he would grow and learn and Nick dreaming of the one battle he strived for.

 **(NEAR GATE TERMINAL, ROUTE 3** **1** **)**

"Now Amy calm down," Nick said as he held a struggling and extremely pissed Chikorita from going back to attack another Trainer's Weedle.

Nick had gotten into a battle with a Bug catcher from Cherrygrove and had made Jerry battle all of his Pokemon so he could get a workout in. Amy, bored with watching the fight after the second Caterpie, had gone into the tall grass and, as near as he could tell, promptly fell asleep. Once the battle was over the Bug Catcher had offered to exchange numbers in case he found anything interesting and Nick had agreed, albeit reluctantly.

From what he could gather, the Bug Catcher's Weedle had in the meantime lost interest in their conversation and went looking in the tall grass for something to eat. Not far from the battle site he'd found a big, juicy leaf to snack on. Since he hadn't noticed the Pokemon attached to said leaf, he'd opened wide and bitten into it as hard as he could. The resulting scream scared a flock of Pidgey away. The Bug Catcher's Pokemon had latched onto him in fright and, while Jerry had attempted to do the same to Nick, he hadn't succeeded and had instead hit his head against Nick's backpack.

Suffice to say, they probably wouldn't be seeing that Bug Catcher again anytime soon. Not with what Amy threatened to do to his Weedle (which, considering her tone of voice at the time, was nothing pleasant).

Amy, of course, was still angry, which brought them to the present, where Nick was holding Amy in his arms in an attempt to stop her from going back and causing an unnecessary fight and Jerry was sitting on a nearby tree branch rubbing his head.

Finally Amy stopped struggling and said,"Chiko chi chiko, chi chi chi."

Nick put her down and she sent one last sharp glare back at the Bug Catcher, who by now was out of sight, and said something under her breath that Nick assumed was a threat. His guess wasn't far off.

He rolled his eyes and, beginning to enter the terminal, said to his Pokemon,"Alright, here we go."

As they walked through the terminal they were stopped by a guard who asked,"What'd you wanna do in Violet City?"

Nick blinked and said,"I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader."

The guard snorted in amusement. "Yeah, you and everybody else. Look kid, Falknor don't battle with nobody unless they've battled the monks of Sprout Tower."

Nick stared for a second. "We have monks in Johto?"

"They're mostly dedicated Trainers themselves who focus on enlightenment and educating other, younger Trainers in 'the ways of battle'. Bunch of old geezers." Before Nick could ask what that meant the guard said,"Look, you'll understand when you battle them."

Nick looked towards the entrance to the city. "So, can I go through now?"

The guard sighed and gestured him through. Nick hurried through, eager now to see what Violet City looked like.

As they entered the city they stopped dead. From what they could see trees surrounded the city, but what drew their attention were the houses. The walls of each of the houses were varying shades of brown, some made of stone and others made of wood, whereas each of the roofs were the same striking shade of, well, violet. The oddest part of the city was the large tower in the distance, which seemed to be made of wooden walls and purple tiled roofs. _Sprout Tower,_ they all thought simultaneously. The entire town had an almost ancient feeling to it, with Sprout Tower appearing to be the oldest building of all.

Nick tore his gaze from the tower and noticed that Amy and Jerry were just as distracted as he was by the city. He smiled to himself as he noticed that the Pokemon Center was just down the road and an idea began to form.

"Last one to the Pokemon Center's gotta carry the sleeping bag and tent!" he shouted and took off. The others soon followed, Amy ahead of Jerry and closing in on Nick.

Amy overtook Nick and ended up coming in first, though Nick and Jerry tied for second place. Nick simply smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll carry it."

Making his way to the counter, Nick began making a mental list of everything they'd need. _A check-up, some training, lunch, training, dinner, a good night's rest, coffee, and, in the morning, waffles. Lots of waffles. With coffee._

 **(THE NEXT MORNING, VIOLET CITY, THAT FUNNY ISLAND THINGY IN FRONT OF SPROUT TOWER)**

Nick stood in front of the Sprout Tower, nervousness tying his stomach in knots. Today he was wearing an open red cotton jacket, white T-shirt, red pants, red baseball cap with a white Pokeball logo on it and a pair of black boots.

They'd taken a day to relax and review they're abilities, and were only going to Sprout Tower now. Mistly because the Gym wouldn't let them battle Falkner without coming here first.

In sharp contrast to Nick's hesitation, Amy and Jerry were having a small mock fight in preparation for the fights they'd face inside.

"Hey, so you guys are okay with going in now right?"

Jerry looked at him and gave him a quick nod. Amy wasted no time in knocking him to the ground, smirking at him as he muttered.

"Hey, what was that? Did you really just ask your Pokemon whether they wanted to fight or not?"

Nick looked towards the bridge leading to town and stared. Stepping off the bridge was a female Trainer wearing a navy blue shirt, black pants with yellow lines down the sides and a pair of red sneakers. She had copper hair and dark brown eyes.

Nick blinked and said,"Well yeah. If I'm going to do something that could get them hurt I should at least have their consent." This earned him furious nodding from Amy and a sharp, surprised look from Jerry, who shook his head in exasperation and sighed.

The new Trainer smirked at him. "And what would you do if they said no?"

Nick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I would have built up their confidence with some more training and a few days of relaxation. With waffles."

The Trainer stared in shock for a few minutes before she said, with clear contempt in her voice,"That's stupid! What, do you think Pokemon are our equals?"

Nick smiled. "Yes. Well, except for the fact that Pokeballs don't work on humans. That's where we're superior."

"That's ridiculous!" the girl exclaimed. "I mean sure, Pokemon may be considered our equals at home, but in a battle a Pokemon is nothing more than dumb muscle. It's up to the Trainer to think and plan while the Pokemon follows orders. It's only outside of a fight that a Pokemon's intelligence can even be considered on par with the intellect of us humans, and even then they tend to act like the wild beasts they are."

Nick started a slow clap and said sarcastically, "Riveting speech, but I'm in the middle of something way more important than whatever this is. So if you don't mind..." Nick turned to leave, his Pokemon following suit just to taunt the new Trainer.

"Hey!" shouted the Trainer. "No low level creatures and their pathetic excuse for a Trainer can just walk away from me."

Nick turned back and said,"For your information, they're very _high_ leveled."

Amy tensed, ready to spring at this new Trainer. Jerry simply stared at her condescendingly.

The Trainer scoffed and said,"Here, I'll prove my style of training is better. Come on out, Pikachu!" She threw the Pokeball and it released a small, yellow ball of fluff with a lightning bolt shaped tail and ears that looked like antennae.

Nick stared at it for a minute before he said,"Let me guess. You must be Dumb Muscle."

The Trainer snorted. "Very funny. Now, shall we battle?"

Nick turned to the Trainer and asked,"So, we're going to fight because you want to prove a Pokemon can't fight without it's Trainer?"

The Trainer nodded smugly and said,"Yes, that's right."

"Shouldn't I leave now, have one of my Pokemon fight alone and come back when the fight's over? I mean technically, that would resolve the issue."

The Trainer snorted. "What an absurd idea. Now, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Maya Superior and this is the Pikachu my father has bred specially for me. I only received him recently, but he comes from the best of stock." The Pikachu in question stood up and bowed at Nick.

Amy and Jerry returned the Pikachu's bow, then went right back to glaring at it's Trainer.

"My name is Nicholas Garret, Nick if you're feeling informal, and the Grass-type over there is Amy. She was entrusted to me by Professor Elm after he was robbed by a ginger. The Flying-type with the guyliner is Jerry."

"Good. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way..." she trailed off as her Pikachu settled into a fighting stance.

Nick sighed then said,"Okay. Jerry, give it a shot."

Jerry swooped down from his perch on Nick's shoulder and stood staring at the Pikachu, waiting for him to make a move.

Maya began laughing. "Don't you know flying Pokemon are weak to electricity? You've just made a huge mistake! You might as well surrender now before-"

"Jerry, Hypnosis!"

"Wait, what?"

The pink waves of the Hypnosis hit the Pikachu, who wobbled where he stood for a moment before falling to the floor, sound asleep. It was a new move Jerry had used after the battle with the Bug Catcher to temporarily sedate Amy. Not that it changed anything when she woke up.

Maya stared in shock before shouting,"Why did you do that?!"

Nick shrugged and said,"Because you let me. You probably shouldn't talk so much. Unless you're issuing orders, in which case, talk all you want."

Maya glared at him before she shouted,"Pikachu get up! We have to win!"

"Jerry, Tackle him."

The Pikachu shook himself awake and, before he could comprehend what was happening, was hit by a Tackle from Jerry that knocked him back to the ground. A second after he landed he started struggling to his feet, weakened by the attack.

"Oh no, Pikachu!" shouted Maya.

Just then Nick thought of something and shouted,"Jerry hold on for a second."

Maya spluttered and asked,"What're you doing now?"

Nick asked,"This just occured to me, you know, not very important, thought I'd get right on it, but is this your first battle!"

Maya, her face crimson, said,"I have studied with some of the best tutors around. I've been to see Professor Oak himself, and I've watched battles between Elite Trainers and the Elite Four themselves. Why? Because my dad arranged for me to be there, watching the match up close and personal, learning everything I could. Do you get it yet? I basically went to a private Trainer's School, with the best teachers around!"

Nick considered her words for a second before asking,"So, that's a no?"

"Ye-yes."

Nick slowly shook his head then said,"Yeah, I can't do this. Jerry, come back here." Jerry looked at him incredulously, but nonetheless obeyed and returned to his Trainer's side. Amy was staring at him in shock as Nick walked over and tried putting her on his shoulder.

Maya spluttered then asked,"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"You're a new Trainer," Nick explained as he lifted Amy. "A brand new Trainer. I've already got more experience than you. It just doesn't feel right to battle you when you're so unsure of what to do." Jerry nodded slowly in agreement. Amy, who was finally settled on Nick's shoulder, nodded as well. "Though I've gotta admit, most of my experience is 'use Tackle'. Maybe get a workout in with some other new Trainer, but I'm not your guy."

Maya stared in shock before she shouted,"But you have to finish the battle! It's the rules."

Nick shrugged and said,"Oaky, fine. If you insist. Amy?"

Amy sighed and nodded at Nick, who lifted her off his shoulder. She made her way onto Jerry's previous spot and stood staring at the Pikachu, who had gotten to his feet.

Nick quickly said,"Amy, do a Tackle!"

Amy ran towards the Pikachu and Tackled him. The Pikachu dodged to the side and Amy, unheeded, swerved and Tackled him. He was knocked to the side, his eyes swirling.

"That didn't last very long."

Maya recalled her Pikachu and glared at Nick. "Oh, shut up. You may have beaten me this time, but that was only because you challenged me before my Pokemon was ready. Next time I'll be the victor."

Nick raised an eyebrow and stated,"Yeah, but, this didn't solve our debate. Not to mention, you challenged me."

"The words of someone like you are worthless to someone like me."

Nick looked at Maya and smirked. "You wanna know why we're so different? Your rich, but I've got more common sense."

Maya blushed furiously at the insult. "Why you little...?!" She turned abruptly and, glancing back at him, announced, "This isn't over Nicholas Garret!"

With that she dashed away towards the Pokemon Center, leaving them to think about what had just happened.

Nick stared after her for a few minutes before turning to his Pokemon and saying, "Well, that was fun."

Amy rolled her eyes and Jerry sighed.

"Let's get going guys. Try not to think about what she said," said Nick, turning to walk towards Sprout Tower.

Amy and Jerry followed after him, both eager to continue, as Nick opened the door to Sprout Tower.

 **(END CHAPTER 4)**

Yeah, Maya is a bit of a jerk right now, but I'm hoping to develop her a little more later. Also, after watching the Pokemon VS Digimon Death Battle I've decided to make Pokemon-Can't-Battle-Like-They-Usually-Do-Without-Trainers a plot point, since Wiz and Boomstick bring up a good point. You should check it out, I won't spoil anything. I will try to make a lot of references to TeamFourStar DragonBall Z Abridged.

Next chapter Nick will challenge Sprout Tower. Yeah, that's it. I mean, you don't even need me to say it. It's right there in the cliff hanger.

Question: BTW, one question. Is this story only based on the game? Or do you also use some parts of anime and manga?  
Answer: Games mostly, though I'm including some elements of the anime to make it cooler (I recently started watching some of the first season of the anime, nothing past episode 21) and I can't include much from the manga, though it's only because I haven't really read the manga, not because I don't like it. I may alter a few things for the sake of plot though.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Pokemon. Pokespeach may sometimes be translated.

 **(SPROUT TOWER, TOO EARLY FOR THIS CRAP)**

Nick opened the door slowly, just in case anything tried to jump out at him. Just as the door was wide enough, Amy and Jerry came barreling past him, knocking him over onto the floor of the tower.

Nick raised his head, rested it on his right hand and looked at his Pokemon, who had stopped when they heard him fall and were now looking back at him nervously. He began lightly tapping the floor with his left hand and said simply,"You know, I'd be worried about manners...if I wasn't becoming sure that you didn't have any."

Getting to his feet, Nick took note on what was on this floor. The room was taller than ten feet, with wooden Bellsprout statues on either side of the doorway and a giant wooden pillar in the middle. The room, while still spacious, was made smaller by inner walls made of logs which, while still creating a gap between the roof and the top of said walls, blocked whatever was beyond the walls from Nick's eyes.

Nick walked over to a man in a purple shirt, purple pants and purple slip-on shoes standing next to the ladder and asked,"Excuse me, but where can I battle the monks?"

The purple clad man looked at him. He was short (only a little taller than Nick, who measured about five feet) and lightly wrinkled. He then turned an appraising eye on Amy and Jerry. "Your Pokemon are nervous. The green one is a little less nervous," he noted.

Nick looked down at Amy and said,"Yeah, she is. It's nothing to worry about though, she's been in a real battle before."

The man raised an eyebrow and said,"Right." Then he turned to the pillar in the middle of the room and asked,"So, do you know the stories surrounding that pillar?"

Nick turned towards the pillar as it swayed slightly as if pushed by an invisible breeze. "No, but you're going to explain, right?"

The purple man chuckled. "Well some say that the pillar in the middle was a hundred foot Bellsprout that was turned into solid wood by Ho-Oh to stop it rampaging through Johto. Some say the shaking of the pillar is caused by the training done at the top."

Nick waited for him to continue and, when he didn't, asked simply,"And?"

Purple looked at him and smiled. " _I_ say that you don't just battle the monks. Once you reach the top, you battle the Elder and he gives you a new move. Of course you still have to battle a few monks to get to the Elder."

Nick sighed. "Of course. Though that has nothing to do with the pillar..." He paused, waiting for the man to elaborate, but he didn't ."Anything else I should know about?"

The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a second before replying. "No, that should cover it. Oh yes, there's a Rattata infestation, so you may run into them while you're here."

Nick stared at the man for a few seconds. "Infestation?"

The man opened his mouth to reply, then paused for a second as he thought about his answer. "Yes for a while now. We're working on it though."

"And that is my cue to leave. How do I get upstairs?"

The man gestured to the ladder next to him. "Start climbing. Although..." He turned to look at Amy and Jerry, who at that moment were staring at the swaying wood pillar. "I'd recomend you store your Pokemon in their Pokeballs, since you won't be able to make it up there with them out."

Nick looked the monk in the eye and said,"Challenge accepted."

The man spluttered and tried to correct his statement, but Nick was already lifting Amy onto his head, letting her back legs rest on top of his backpack.

"Alright, I suppose it's your choice."

The man watched, bemused, as Amy attempted to settle herself onto Nick's head as he started climbing the ladder. She squirmed around a little and eventually found a somewhat comfortable position on with her forelegs alongside Nick's head and most of her body resting more on him than the bag.

"Amy," Nick said exasperatedly, "warn me next time you decide to look for a better resting position."

Amy nodded in confirmation and Nick continued going up the ladder.

The Purple Intern looked up at him and snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, before I forget you should be careful. The Elder will want to ask you a question." He watched as Nick turned his head to nod before continuing on, and in a moment he and Amy were on the second floor, Jerry hurriedly flying after him.

The man sighed and resumed his stationary vigil. _I wonder what's that kid's goal anyway?_ he thought.

 **(FIRST FLOOR, SPROUT TOWER)**

Nick stood facing the first monk (whose name he'd already forgotten) and prepared for whatever Pokemon the monk sent out.

"Go, Bellsprout!" The thin, weed-like Pokemon stood tall, glaring at them from its side of the battlefield.

Nick smirked. Bellsprout were annoying, but nothing Jerry hadn't already proven he could handle, even if he didn't have a Flying-type move yet. That said...

"Go Jerry."

Jerry, who had up until this moment been in a conversation with Amy on the benefits different Pokeballs, flew over and landed in front of Nick.

He, upon realizing who his opponent was, turned to look at Nick and, with one eye raised, asked, "Really?"

Nick understood well enough to know what his Pokemon was thinking. "Yeah, I know Jerry. Get over it, you could use the exercise."

Jerry sighed and turned back to the Bellsprout, who at this point looked a little irritated at their casual disregard of him.

The monk looked at them and said,"Now Bellsprout, use Vine Whip."

The Bellsprouts vines shot out towards Jerry, whose muscles tensed in readiness.

"Jerry, fly over the vines towards Bellsprout!"

Jerry took off, the vines inches below him, and shot towards the Bellsprout, who seemed surprized at the tactic.

Nick waited until Jerry was almost right in front of the Bellsprout before he ordered,"Now, Hypnosis!"

Jerry quickly fired off the Hypnosis and the Bellsprout dropped, fast asleep. The monk shouted in surprize as his Bellsprout fell, then stood staring in shock at his Bellsprout as it lightly snored.

"Jerry, get up high and Tackle it!"

Jerry flew towards the roof and, when he was practically touching it, drop down and Tackled the Bellsprout, aiming for the head as he did so. It hit the wall with a thud and, when its face turned towards them, it shook its head and tried to get up. Another quick Tackle took it out.

Nick looked at the monk smugly and said,"Well that should about wrap things up here. Au' revoir."

The monk looked up at Nick and said,"Not so fast! For you see, on each floor you must face a monk of Sprout Tower!"

Nick raised one eyebrow. "Yeah and I beat you. On to the second floor."

The monk smiled. "Ah, but what you don't know is that I have two more Pokemon!"

Nick looked at him for a minute, his face blank, before he smiled. "Amy?"

Amy looked up at him and, smiling at Nick, asked,"Yeah?"

Nick looked down at Amy. "Chances are we'll need to get some training in for Jerry before we face this elder guy. Mind if I don't use you for a while?"

Amy thought for a moment, then shook her head. So far she'd found out she could do what appeared to be squats, so that was handy. Other than that, all she could do right now was watch the fight.

"Jerry, get ready for whatever he sends out."

Jerry nodded and his muscles tensed.

"They'll probably be more Bellsprout."

 _Mew dammit,_ thought Jerry, a scowl marring his face.

"Go Bellsprout!"

"Mew dammit," said Nick, scowling.

The monk drew his arm back and, throwing it forward, shouted,"Bellsprout, swipe at him with Vine Whip!"

Bellsprout threw his Vine Whip a distance from Jerry's side, then swung it towards him as fast as he could.

"Jerry, jump on my command." When the vines were close enough Nick shouted,"Jump!"

With a quick jump Jerry was in the air. He felt the wind as the vines passed beneath him, missing their target by inches. The Bellsprout's body twisted as his vines swung away from Jerry, too fast stop.

"Jerry, while it's distracted, go for a Tackle."

Jerry flew towards the Bellsprout and Tackled it's head, knocking it down briefly before it hooked it's feet into the ground and swung itself upright again, knocking Jerry away. He flapped his wings and stopped a little away from Bellsprout.

"Bellsprout, Vine Whip, straight ahead!"

The Bellsprout's vines shot forward from it's body, intent on hitting their opponent.

"Jerry, circle around."

Jerry shot into the air, barely avoiding the Bellsprout's attack, and flew behind the Bellsprout.

"Tackle." Jerry flew at the Bellsprout as its eyes widened and hit it as hard as he could. It hit the ground and didn't try to get up.

Nick turned towards the monk and, clapping his hands together, asked,"What else you got?"

The monks face turned pink and he grabbed his last Pokeball, throwing it forward with a sharp twitch of his wrist, and said,"Go Bellsprout! At this point that Hoothoot must be getting tired."

Nick looked at Jerry and realized that the monk had a point. Jerry was still relatively new at Trainer battles and, as much as he wanted him to get stronger, a minute or two to catch his breath couldn't hurt.

Nick turned to Amy and asked,"Hey, you wanna take over for the last one?"

Amy hopped to her feet and nodded, skipping to the battlefield to further irritate the monk (it worked) and, when she stood in front of Nick, she began swinging her leaf around to warm it up.

The new Bellsprout eyed them from across the floor, wary of this new opponent. It tensed it's muscles, ready for anything this Pokemon tried to pull off.

"Bellsprout, do a-"

"If you say Vine Whip, I swear to Mew-"

"Bellsprout, use Vine Whip."

Nick swore, Jerry shouted angrily and Amy glared.

"Amy, dodge to the left."

Amy threw her body sideways, rolling away as the attack flew past her. Nick yelped and jumped to his right, the Vine Whip missing him by inches.

"Bellsprout, recall your vines, quickly!"

Bellsprout pulled it's vines back and Amy came up from her roll, smirking at the Bellsprout. When it glared she blew a raspberry at it.

"Amy, Razor Leaf!"

Amy's smirk grew wider and she threw the leaves forward. The Bellsprout screamed as the sharp leaves hit him, but he endured the hit and, after the leaves stopped pelting him, stood there panting.

"Amy, get close."

"Bellsprout Vine Whip!"

Amy started running towards the Bellsprout as it threw it's vines forward. Without any urging she rolled to her left and, as the vines missed her again, came up and continued running. The monk spluttered at this and Nick smiled.

 _She's getting better,_ Nick thought, and felt that, now familiar, feeling build up. He watched Amy race toward the panicking Bellsprout with an odd warmth infusing his chest, his mouth growing into a smirk that irritated the monk.

"Bellsprout retract your vines!"

Bellsprout hurriedly pulled back his vines, but was too late to stop Amy from getting close. She stopped right in front of him and he froze in shock.

"Amy, Poison Powder!"

The purple spores landed on the Bellsprout and as Nick watched they did...nothing.

 _What the-_

"Now Bellsprout, Vine Whip!"

The Bellsprout shot it's vines out to its side, then swung them at Amy, knocking her away. She skidded on the floor and, growling under her breath, got to her feet. She turned to face the Bellsprout again, now more than a little peeved.

"Amy, you okay?"

She looked back at him and nodded, then faced Bellsprout and glared. Her mind was racingm trying to figure out why her Poison Powder would have no effect. Eventually she landed on one likely reason: the Bellsprout was part Poison-type.

"So, Bellsprouts are unaffected by moves that cause instant poisoning?" Nick asked aloud.

The monk smiled triumphantly from across the room. "That's right. Does that put a wrinkle in your plans?"

Nick shrugged. "Not really. Amy, Tackle!"

Amy shot forward, the speed of the attack catching the monk off guard. The Bellsprout hurriedly tried to move out of the way, but was too slow to avoid getting hit by the attack and knocked to the floor. As it lay on it's back, it's eyes swirled in defeat.

Nick smiled and walked over to where Amy was standing, lifting her up and placing her on his head. While she was a little heavy, it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle, though climbing was a little difficult.

Amy was smiling smugly at the monk, who took a deep breath and tried to calm himself as he realized that his anger had given Nick the advantage.

"Well, that was interesting. Care to explain?" he asked conversationally.

Nick smiled sympathetically as he explained. "Well, Amy's my, um, strongest Pokemon. Half the reason I let Jerry battle so many of your Bellsprout was because he needed the training. The other half was because Amy would finish it too fast, no offense to your Pokemon."

"Is she really that strong?" The monk seemed genuinely curious.

"Well, yeah. I think so at least. Why?"

"No reason," the monk said as they left down a ladder. Once Nick went on to the second floor he said, "That was one odd Chikorita though."

 **(SECOND FLOOR, SPROUT TOWER)**

"Before we begin, I have to ask you. Do we really need to battle?" In answer the monk raised his Pokeball. "Huh, thought so."

Nick, Jerry and Amy had made it to Sprout Tower's second floor, only to be met by another monk. On the plus side, he only had one Bellsprout. On the less-than-positive side, that one Bellsprout was probably stronger than the small fries they'd faced before.

"Jerry, you're taking this one." Jerry nodded and flew over to face the Bellsprout.

The monk frowned. "I suppose I should warn you that a type advantage will hardly work in your favor here."

Nick had a puzzled frown as he tried to interpret the monk's words. "And?"

The monk sighed. "Bellsprout, use Growth."

The Bellsprout feet suddenly began growing into the ground, embedding it into the wooden floor. It glowed yellow for a second, then its feet returned to their normal length and it stood there, staring at them.

"Am I to assume that did something?"

"Well child," said the monk smoothly. "It may alarm you to hear this, but that move just now increased the strength of my Bellsprout's special attacks!"

Nick wasn't alarmed. "Jerry, Hypnosis!"

Jerry fired off his Hypnosis attack and the Bellsprout looked at them smugly. At the last second it's vines shot towards the roof and wrapped around the wooden beams. It pulled itself up and away from Jerry's attack and began laughing.

Nick raised an eyebrow. "I probably should have seen that coming."

"Indeed. Are you trembling in your boots yet?"

Nick took a second to look at where the Bellsprout had pulled itself up. "Not really. This may take awhile."

The monk smiled. "Bellsprout, Vine Whip that Hoothoot!"

The vines flew toward Jerry, who shouted in surprise and flapped out of the way.

"Don't stop Bellsprout! Keep up the pressure!"

The Bellsprout's vines kept on trying to hit Jerry, who flapped and swerved as he tried to avoid them.

"Jerry, try a Hypnosis."

Jerry quickly fired off another Hypnosis towards the Bellsprout's perch and it dropped down, dodging again and snickering as Jerry's attack went wide. Jerry was clearly becoming irritated. Nick, however, was more interested than irritated. This was quickly becoming an interesting match.

"Jerry, Tackle!"

Jerry flew towards the Bellsprout, who snickered again and retreated to the roof.

"Jerry, fly up behind him!"

As fast as he could Jerry flew up. The Bellsprout turned its head, its eyes widening as it noticed the Hoothoot smirking at it.

"Jerry, Hypnosis!" This time the Hypnosis didn't miss and the Bellsprout dropped to the floor, fast asleep.

"Bellsprout wake up!" the monk shouted desperately.

"Jerry fly above it, then drop down with a Tackle!"

Jerry flew up till he skimmed the roof, then dropped down onto the Bellsprout. The attack woke it up, though it was hurt enough to slow it down.

"Jerry, Tackle him! Don't let up."

Jerry flew in for another Tackle. The Bellsprout, hurt and fighting off any lingering lethargy, was unable to properly defend and, after a few more ( a lot more) Tackles, was knocked out.

The monk stood there, stunned at the sight of his Bellsprout, who had been knocked out by the attack. Eventually he sighed and pointed to the ladder. "Up there you will find the Elder. He is the most enlightened of us all."

Nick thanked him and made to go up the ladder, lifting Amy onto his head.

"Wait a minute," said the monk.

Nick turned his head, nearly dislodging Amy, and asked,"Yeah, what is it?"

"How exactly could you tell that I would have my Bellsprout use the same maneuver?"

Nick pondered for a second then said simply, "I didn't."

The monk thought about that for a second. "Thanks. Goodbye then."

Nick nodded (Amy had a firm hold on his head) and began climbing the ladder. Jerry, bored with the conversation, had already flown up and was waiting for them.

As soon as Nick had gotten onto the third floor the monk sighed and said,"How shameful. Beaten by such a reckless maneuver." Then he thought about it and said,"Well timed though."

 **(THIRD FLOOR, SPROUT TOWER)**

Nick and Amy stared. They'd emerged into the room as soon as they'd gone up the ladder. Almost immediately after they'd been stunned.

They'd emerged into a darkened hallway, lit only with candles hanging from Bellsprout statues exactly like the ones downstairs as they lined the hallway. While the hallway wasn't very long, light filtered in on either side the wooden pillar from before. Speaking of the pillar, it was still in the exact middle of the vast room and it was still going through the roof.

"So, anyone want to bet they built it into the roof?" asked Nick.

Jerry and Amy didn't hesitate before shaking their heads. They had been thinking along the same lines as Nick and had come to the same conclusion regarding the pillar.

Nick strode briskly towards the light alongside the pillar, Amy on his head and Jerry flying ahead. He was excited at the thought of seeing the Elder, the one person who would question his reasons for a journey.

He ducked around the pillar and winced at the sudden brightness. He blinked as his eyes adjusted, staring at the room he now found himself in.

It was a simple room with two windows on the opposite wall and Bellsprout statues in each corner. Jerry quickly flew over to rest on one of the Bellsprout statues, silently observing Nick's antics.

Nick looked around again, looking for the Elder, before he noticed a brown lump leaning against one of the statues. He walked over and noticed how oddly wrinkled the lump was, almost like fabric. He lightly kicked it and it snorted, shaking itself before turning it's head (was it a head?) towards him.

"I wasn't sleeping I was-" The lump stopped it's explanation and stilled, before a hand reached up and flipped part of itself open, revealing a bald wrinkled old man wearing a bead necklace with a Pokeball dangling from it. "You aren't one of the monks. Are you a challenger here?"

Nick blinked. "No I'm the new Officer Jenny. I'm here to investigate a disturbance of the peace."

"So I do snore..." the man muttered before giving Nick a jovial smile and getting up. "I'm the Elder here at Sprout Tower. Pleased to meet you." He offered Nick his hand.

"Nicholas," Nick replied, shaking the offered hand.

"So, what brings you here young Nicholas?" the Elder asked, grinning. "Do you seek a Pokemon battle, or perhaps you seek motivation?"

Nick chuckled. "I've got my own motivation, but I was expecting a battle and honestly, if I don't get one, I might be disappointed."

"Alright. Wait here a moment." The Elder walked to one side of the room, then gestured to Nick. "There should be a little yellow square somewhere over there. That's where you should stand for this battle." He looked to his left and noticed the Hoothoot staring at him curiously. "I assume this is yours?"

"Yeah, he's mine. Jerry, get over here. The first one's yours" Jerry flew from the Bellsprout statue and landed in front of Nick.

Amy stayed on top of nick's head, wondering when this Elder would make Nick doubt himself. So far all he'd done was snore and smell like old robes.

"Before we begin, I'd like to ask a question," said Nick.

"Alright, though usually I'm the one asking questions," stated the Elder.

Nick took a second to look around. "No offence, but what's with you people and Bellsprouts?"

The monk blinked and looked around. "To be honest, the records which tell us why this tower was built have been lost since before your great-grandparents were born. Many who come here now and become monks are focused more on finding enlightenment than battling. Their Pokemon are more for self-defense than actual competitive battling."

"And fighting off an infestation."

"That too I suppose. Now," he brandished his Pokeballs again, "your Pokemon should get ready."

Nick nodded and looked at his Hoothoot. "Jerry, you get that?" Jerry answered by cracking his neck and puffing up his feathers.

The Elder smiled, though this one was more cunning. "Allow me to get the ball rolling. Bellsprout, come on out!" The Bellsprout burst from it's Pokeball and yawned sleepily before focusing it's attention on Nick and his Pokemon.

Nick sighed in exasperation. "You know what? Screw it. I don't care anymore."

"Now Bellsprout, Growth!"

Once again Nick witnessed the odd spectical of a Pokemon's feet growing and gathering power from a wooden floor. This time though he wasn't waiting around.

As soon as the Bellsprout's feet were firmly planted Nick shouted, "Jerry Tackle!"

Jerry flew towards the Bellsprout and hit it as hard as he could. It bent backwards and, with a little springing sound, wobbled back into a standing position, a dazed from the hit and more than a little angry.

The Elder hummed thoughtfully. "A bit underhanded, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, well I take an advantage when I see it. Besides, from what I've heard Growth makes you stronger. Couldn't just stand around watching that happen, right? Now, Jerry use Hypnosis."

Jerry's eyes glowed as he fired pink rings of psychic energy at the Bellsprout who, too firmly anchored in the ground, stood there and took the attack. It barely managed to finish it's Growth before the attack hit and it flopped onto its front, fast asleep.

"You do realize that the minute it wakes up, you'll be in big trouble?"

"Yes, and I have a solution for that. It's called the Jerry Tackle."

Jerry once again Tackled the Bellsprout and, before it could wake up, kept on Tackling it. When it finally woke up, it was too hurt to defend itself and was quickly defeated.

The Elder hummed thoughtfully. "An odd tactic, I'll admit, but a good one," he said conversationally as he recalled his Bellsprout. "Now then, for my next Pokemon, I choose Hoothoot!"

The Hoothoot appeared in front of them. It looked almost exactly like Jerry.

"Now then," called the Elder, "will you continue battling with your Hoothoot?"

"Nah," answered Nick. "I'm thinking of mixing it up a little. Amy, you're up!"

Nick gently grasped Amy's sides and lowered her from his head onto the ground as Jerry flew next to him to observe the fight.

The Elder hummed thoughtfully. "A Grass-type against my Flying-type? An interesting combination. But," he said, his expression turning serious, "what do you hope to attain travelling with your Pokemon?"

Nick puzzled over the word for a few minutes. "I'm gonna answer that...later."

The Elder sighed. "Of course you will. Now, use Hypnosis Hoothoot!"

The Hoothoot it's Hypnosis at Amy, who rolled to the left to avoid them. Nick yelped and jumped aside as the attack harmlessly dispersed against the wall.

"Do none of you know how to aim?!" he shouted at the two battling Pokemon.

The Hoothoot had the good grace to look abashed while Amy mulled it over for a second before shrugging.

Nick rubbed his temple. "Why do I bother?"

"Your Pokemon reacts instinctively," said the Elder in an attempt to get attention back to the match. "She dodges well."

"Well, yeah. I mean, what are the odds that someone has to be told to dodge?"

The Elder opened his mouth to reply-

"You know what, never mind. Amy, Tackle and pin him!"

Shocked at the sudden command, the Hoothoot barely got off the ground before Amy knocked it down and kept it pinned.

"Throw her off!" the Elder shouted.

"Poison Powder!"

Amy waved her leaf and blew a thick, purple powder into the Hoothoot's face. Unfortunately (for Amy) this was the moment the Hoothoot decided to throw her off.

The Hoothoot tried to throw her off as hard as he could, but his position meant the best he could do was send her rolling. When she got up she shook her head and stuck her tongue out at the Hoothoot, who glared back at her angrily.

"You poisoned my Hoothoot," the Elder noted.

"Perceptive of you. Sorry, but I needed an edge."

The Elder smirked. "Well, now you have one. Hoothoot, Peck!"

Amy tried to dodge, but Hoothoot flew overhead and swooped down, it's attacking finding it's mark. Amy shouted as she was hit, then wacked the Hoothoot in it's face with her leaf. It yelped and fluttered onto a Bellsprout statue, rubbing it's face and muttering.

"She slapped him," the Elder noted incredulously.

"She tends to do that. Razor Leaf!"

Amy fired her attack at the Hoothoot, who attempted to fly up and was hit by a faceful of sharp leaves. He shrieked and flew away, staying above Amy as she continued firing Razor Leafs.

"See! Why can't more Pokemon keep attacking? It's not like you need an invitation..." Nick trailed off as he noticed something. Amy was wincing slightly each time she fired her attack, and the wince grew more pronounced when she had to turn to hit Hoothoot. At best she'd scraped herself rolling. At worst the Hoothoot's attack had done more damage than Nick thought.

The only good thing about it was the Hoothoot's poisoning. It was getting harder for it to keep flying like that, especially with Amy's Razor Leaf forcing it to go faster than it should while poisoned.

"Hoothoot, quickly, use Hypnosis!"

The Hoohoot fired the attack. This time though, when Amy tried to dodge, she stumbled and the attack hit.

"Now use Peck!"

The Hoothoot flew down and Pecked Amy. On one hand, she was hurt badly. On the other hand, 'flew' was putting it nicely. It more fell down, then struggled back up after it hit, the poison beginning to take its toll. And, though it knocked her away a bit, the Tackle woke Amy up.

The Hoothoot walked slowly to Amy as she struggled to her feet. She managed to get up and face it, though she was shaking. The poisoning on the Hoothoot would only need a few more minutes to work, but with the state Amy was in that hardly mattered.

"Hoothoot, Peck!"

Hoothoot raised its head, ready to finish the fight and the annoying Grass-type.

Nick thought fast and could come up with only one viable solution. _I can't believe we're actually using this move,_ he thought. "Amy, Growl!"

Amy reacted quickly, Growling right at Hoothoot as it was about to deliver it's attack. It squawked in surprise and stumbled, falling down in front of her. She smiled smugly at it, a gleam in her eye as she tensed her muscles.

The Elder caught on a second too late. "Hoothoot move!"

"Tackle!"

Hoothoot did it's best, but the extent of the poisoning stopped it from flying away. Amy threw her weight at it and knocked it to the ground where it stayed, eyes swirling. Amy smiled, then promptly fell down where she stood.

Nick walked over, Jerry watching from his spot, and gently lifted Amy's head. "Amy, Amy, how many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, holding up three fingers.

Amy looked at the fingers blearily, then asked, "Chi?"

Nick sighed and lifted Amy, cradling her in his arms. "Never mind." He looked at the Elder and asked, "Any other Pokemon you want to send out?"

The Elder stared at him consideringly before saying, "There's no need for that."

"No?" Nick asked with one eyebrow raised.

"No," the Elder confirmed, smiling. "While I do battle you Nick, it's meant to observe your battling style and test your convictions, not for the sake of battling. Speaking of which, what were your convictions?"

Nick smiled. "One day I want to settle down, work with Pokemon, maybe start a family and become an old man who says 'Why, in my day...' all the time. The usual. But first, I want to see what this world has to offer, and explore it with my friends."

The Elder nodded. "Have you found any? Friends I mean."

Nick nodded, looking at Amy and Jerry out of the corner of his eye.

"Good. Now..." The Elder removed a disc from his robes and handed it to Nick. "This is the TM, or Technical Machine, Flash. It teaches your Pokemon how to use a bright flash of light to blind your enemies. Be warned though, a TM can only be used once. It breaks afterwards."

Nick took the offered TM and put it in his bag. "Thanks. So, how do I get out of here?"

"Well you could go back the way you came..."

"Not a chance. No offence to your tower, but the whole 'infestation' bit..."

"Then there's this way." He led Nick down the hallway, past the ladder going down and towards the back wall. Throwing open some latches, he opened a hatch in the back wall just big enough for a man of his size to walk through. Nick looked out, but saw nothing except empty air and the sky. Oh, and the thirty foot drop.

"They say suicide is never the answer."

"Oh, you won't be jumping. More ... sliding." The Elder pulled a length of rope from behind one of the Bellsprout statues and presented it to Nick with a smirk on his face. "This is the faster method, of course."

Nick took a second to process that. "You know, hanging would take longer."

The Elder sighed. "No, you're going to slide down the rope to the ground."

"And you'll tie it to..."

"A hook on the left of the entrance."

Nick paused to consider it. "Okay. Just give me a second to wrap things up."

Nick hurried and tried to wrap Amy in his jacket. She squirmed and looked at him questioningly and he sighed.

"Jerry, get over here." Jerry flew over and listened as Nick explained. "I'm going to tie Amy into a sling and I need you to carry her to the Pokemon Center. There's an exit back near the ladder you can use. There's a rope back there that I'm gonna use to slide down the building. I'll meet you at the Pokemon Center."

Jerry nodded. Once Nick finished bundling Amy into the jacket, Jerry took hold of the makeshift sling and flew towards the Pokemon Center, leaving him behind.

The Elder whistled a cheery tune as he tied the rope, Nick standing near the ladder. When he was finished, he gestured that Nick should come closer.

Nick took hold of the rope and looked down. "I should lower myself down slowly, right?"

The Elder nodded. "Or you could skin your hands."

Nick smirked and saluted the Elder before jumping over the side, lowering himself down in quick jumps like something out of an action movie.

The Elder, who had been watching Nick go down, let out a sigh. "Hope that was worth it."

 **(POKEMON CENTER)**

Nick sat in a chair in the Pokemon Center, his hands lightly bandaged. "So worth it."

Jerry rolled his eyes and Amy nodded, smiling enthusiastically.

Amy's torso was bandaged as she lay on the bed, though Nurse Joy had assured him that she would be fine in a day or so. Amy, of course, was bored and, in an attempt to relieve boredom, was trying to get Nick to hand his Pokegear over so that she could start flipping through radio shows.

"At least promise me you'll listen to Professor Oak's Radio Talk Show. It doesn't hurt to know a little more."

Amy nodded politely, already discarding the radio show idea.

Nick sighed and handed Amy his Pokegear. She would have fist pumped in victory, but her back hurt too much. And she couldn't make a fist without fingers.

"And with that, I am going for a walk," Nick said as he got up to leave. "Jerry, come on. Amy'll be fine."

Jerry flew over and began walking behind Nick, waving goodbye as Nick shut the door.

Amy giggled and turned on the radio, tuning it into one of her favourite stations.

 **Am I original? (yeah)**

 **Am I the only one? (yeah)**

 **Am I sexual? (yeah)**

 **Am I everything you need?**

 **You better rock your body now**

"Ah," she said, grinning. " _Backstreet Boys_. It's going to be a good day."

 **(ROUGHLY TEN MINUTES AFTER LEAVING THE ROOM)**

"This day is going to suck," said Nick. The Mareep stood to the side observing the match.

Jerry stood in front of Nick, facing his opponent, a Growlithe.

It's Trainer was a teen a black hoodie and simple jeans. His face was mostly obscured by the hoodie he wore, but Nick could tell he was pissed by his tense shoulders and the fact that he'd announced he was mad three minutes ago.

"Hey," asked Nick, "isn't it kinda impractical to block your vision like that while surrounded by wild Pokemon?"

"Don't tell me what to do. I happen to like this hoodie," snapped the Trainer. "You got in the way of my first capture, and now I'm going to make you pay."

Nick sighed. "First of all, I was battling Mareep before you showed up. Second, you showed up announcing you would catch Mareep once it fell. Pretty unsportsmanlike. For that, Jerry's going to kick your Growlithe's tail, you cowardly pile of Tauros crap."

"That does it! Growlithe, stand by for battle!" The Growlithe lowered itself into a crouch, staring straight at Nick and Jerry, it's Trainer's veins almost bulging.

"Fine, I need to work on my banter anyway. Remember Jerry: keep those Tackles going, keep those wings beating and have fun."

"I'm sick of this guy! Bite Growlithe!"

"Jerry, Tackle!"

Both Pokemon rushed at each other, tension heavy in the air.

The Mareep looked on, wide eyed at the speed of the two Pokemon.

As their Pokemon rushed each other Nick shouted, "I wish you luck, Black Hood! You'll need it!"

The mystery Trainer smirked and said, "Took the words right out of my mouth."

 **(END CHAPTER 5)**

I need to say this now. Nick is a main character. Not the main character, but a main character. As such he'll get into trouble. Now he's in trouble. Join us next time to see what kind of trouble. And yes, the Elder only tests you to see how you treat your Pokemon. Or as a warm up before Falkner, the theory goes both ways.

Next chapter, Nick gets a new Pokemon, learns a not-so-subtle secret and has a training montage. Not necessarily in that order.

Also, if my OC starts acting like a Mary Sue (Gary Stu) tell me what's causing it and, if I can't justify it, I'll change it.


	6. Chapter 6

Martyn : Most Pokemon Trainers don't get fat, since they walk, cycle or run everywhere they go, which means across a whole region (country/state?). Though the anime has shown that all bets are off with Pokemon.

H : Your idea is noted and honestly it's pretty good.

il2swim57 :Ideas are great, but honestly I'm used to just relying on types rather than all the complicated stuff. I'm probably going to use some of what you suggested though, because it's pretty sound advice.

I do not own Pokemon, and its a good thing too since the Pokedex makes them all sound like nightmares.

 **(ROUTE 32)**

The two Pokemon, a Growlithe and a Hoothoot (Jerry), glared at each other as they collided, the Growlithe's Bite skimming Jerry's wing as the Tackle knocked him back.

The two Trainers waited until they were sure their Pokemon were okay. It took three seconds.

"Growlithe Roar!" shouted the one in the black hoodie.

The Mareep jumped as the Growlithe shook it's head and roared, the sound echoing around them.

"Now Bite!" shouted the Trainer.

When the Growlithe was too close to dodge Nick shouted, "Jerry Hypnosis!"

Jerry's Hypnosis hit the Growlithe square in the face. Its momentum carried it forward as it rolled, fast asleep as it's Trainer looked on in shock.

"I'll admit, I didn't see that coming," said the Trainer.

"Most people don't. But by all means, beat yourself up over it."

The hooded Trainer looked towards Nick and scowled. "Just because I underestimated you once doesn't mean I'll do it again."

Nick smirked. "Glad to hear it. Jerry Tackle."

Jerry hit Growlithe, which both knocked it away and knocked it awake. It stood up and growled at Jerry, who blew a raspberry at it and flew up.

"How are you so calm about this?" asked the Trainer.

"I used to get chased by wild Pokemon who were mad I 'invaded' their territory," said Nick, making air quotes. "If I panicked and curled into a ball I usually got my butt kicked. I can get mad," he said reassuringly, "it's just that I learned to keep my cool under pressure. That or think fast."

"Think fast?"

"Jerry, fly into the sunlight!" Nick suddenly shouted.

Jerry shot up, flying higher until they lost him in the sun's glare. Growlithe followed with his eyes, up to and until he was in the sun. Growlithe was promptly blinded by the bright glare. Never look directly into the sun.

"Growlithe, shake it off!"

"Jerry, TACKLE!"

Jerry shot towards the Growlithe, which was shaking it's head to clear any spots. It looked towards one spot that seemed to be getting bigger, and was promptly hit by a flying Tackle.

"That does it! Growlithe, Ember taht thing until it's down!"

The Growlithe shook itself, then opened it's mouth and released dozens of little balls.

"Jerry dodge!" A second passed as something occurred to Nick. "Why do I need to tell you to dodge?!"

Jerry flew around the Growlithe, forcing it to let up every few seconds to turn. He winced as pain shot through his wing like lightning every time he was forced to swerve. Neither of them noticed the other Pokemon in the area running, fearful of the Ember attack's that almost hit them. Nick noticed though and swore.

"Mewdammit. Jerry, we need to end this now! When he lets up, use Hypnosis!"

Jerry fired a Hypnosis at the Growlithe just as he turned, sending him to sleep and stopping the Embers from flying everywhere.

Nick glared at Hood-dude. "Jerry, fly up, then drop down with a Tackle."

Jerry flew up until he was high enough to see Sprout Tower over the treetops.

"Growlithe wake up!" The sound of his Trainer's voice woke Growlithe, and it shook itself awake, looking around for it's opponent. "No Growlithe, move!"

Jerry didn't give it the chance, dropping as fast as he could onto the Growlithe before it could register what was going on. It screamed in pain as it was hit, then dropped down, unconscious.

The Trainer rushed over to his Growlithe, then glared at Nick as he lifted and cradled it. "I hope getting that Mareep was worth it."

Nick glared back, more mad than he'd thought he'd be. "I'm sorry, but did you not see what those Embers were doing? Look around if you can't see through that hood."

The hooded Trainer finally looked around and noticed the scorch marks on the trees and grass. He saw the Bellsprout watching them from a safe distance or from behind trees and the various other Pokemon peeking from their hiding spots.

"I-I didn't..."

Nick's glare softened slightly as the Trainer stuttered. "Next time, be a little more considerate."

The Trainer's back stiffened and he took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Yes. Sorry about ... this. I let my anger get to me."

Nick smirked again. "That's why I keep my cool."

"Whatever. See you." The Trainer rushed towards Violet City's Pokemon Center.

Nick turned towards the Mareep, who was watching them with wide eyes.

"So, think I'd make a good Trainer?"

The Mareep, awed and a little scared, nodded.

"Great. Now, since my hands hurt, I need you to knock your head on this ball," he said, gingerly removing a Pokeball from his pocket. "Nothing too hard and, if you don't, I'll try to catch you again. You might actually win this time, though Jerry might not pull his puches."

The Mareep shook it's head and knocked the Pokeball. It was promptly swallowed up in a flash of red light and caught a few seconds later.

Nick bent to retrieve the Pokeball and released Mareep. It stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"My hands hurt too much for me to struggle with this belt all the time, so to make this easier you get to walk everywhere," Nick explained. "Unless you want to be in the ball..."

Mareep shook its head furiously.

"Okay. So, this is Jerry. You met him before."

Jerry nodded towards Mareep and Mareep shyly waved one of it's forelegs at him.

"Let's get going. You can fill me in on the way."

As they walked back Nick asked Mareep a few questions to put her at ease.

"Are you a boy?"

Shake of her head.

"Know any good Electric attacks?"

Another shake of her head.

Nick sighed. "Do you have hair?"

Mareep paused for a second to process the question, then nodded.

"Sorry, I just wanted to check if you had yes in your vocabulary. Come on, relax, I'm not gonna eat you," said Nick encouragingly.

Jerry walked next to Mareep, occasionally glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She edged away from him each time he looked at her. Finally he broke the tension and asked, "You're not scared of me, are you?"

Mareep blushed and looked away. "Not scared _per se_ , just...wary."

Jerry nodded. "You'll get over it. Sorry if I hurt you. Nothing's broken?"

Mareep shook her head and cracked a small smile. "No, but I'm more tired than I thought I'd be."

Jerry looked at Nick, walking ahead of them to let them talk, and nodded. "Hang on. Oh, and look tired."

Jerry flew over to Nick and landed on his shoulder, disturbing his balance and almost making him fall over. Nick yelped as he righted himself and Jerry landed next to him.

"Okay Jerry, what's the deal? You almost knocked me over," asked Nick.

Jerry inclined his head towards Mareep and Nick looked at her. She was walking behind them, looking at them cautiously and dragging her feet, lethargy clear her face.

"Oh right. You're still a little banged up from fighting Jerry," said Nick, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

Nick stopped walking and Mareep bumped into him. She looked up at him blearily and shook her head to shake off any tiredness, then winced when her neck protested.

"Here," said Nick, kneeling down and opening his arms. Mareep looked at them and then at him, eyes wide. Nick sighed. "Walk onto my arms. I'll carry you." When she continued looking at him he smiled and said, "Come on. I could do with the exercise. You don't need to be scared."

Mareep smiled gratefully and climed onto Nick's arms. He grunted as he lifted her, shifting slightly so she wasn't on his hands, then continued trudging to the Pokemon Center.

 _I wonder what Amy'll think of our new teammate,_ thought Nick.

 **(VIOLET CITY POKEMON CENTER)**

Amy stared at the new Pokemon (a 'Mareep' Nick called it) appraisingly as she lay on a pillow. Jerry was sitting with them on the bed. Nick was at the front desk asking the Nurse if there was somewhere nearby they could use for training.

"So, you're an Electric-type?" asked Amy, one eyebrow raised.

"Ye-yes," answered Mareep, stuttering slightly. Amy's gaze was hard and probing, which did nothing but make Mareep nervous.

Jerry _tsk_ ed from where he was sitting. "Amy be nice. She's not going to try anything sneaky. If anything you're freaking her out."

Amy's gaze softened slightly and she nodded at Mareep. "Right Jerry. Sorry Mareep."

Mareep relaxed onto the bed and looked at Amy. "It's alright." She fidgeted for a second before she asked her question. "So..are you guys, you know, happy? With the boy I mean. Um, Nick?"

Amy nodded. "So far it's been a good adventure. I'm wondering what comes next."

Jerry thought for a moment. "I actively tried to get captured so I could become stronger. It's been a lot more work than I expected, but honestly it's been fun." He chuckled and looked at Amy out of the corner of his eye. "Of course, there are those here who journey for untold reasons."

"Untold?" asked Mareep curiously.

Amy sighed. "My reasons are the same as Nick's. I want to explore the world and see all the amazing things it has to offer." She grew somber. "I lost my first two chances. I refuse to waste this one."

Jerry smiled and looked through one of Nick's old journals. "Yeah well, no chance of you wasting this chance, is there?" When Mareep looked puzzled, Jerry elaborated. "Amy rarely holds back, though I distinctly remember my ribs wishing she would." Then he chuckled and said, "Bet that Pikachu wishes she'd pull her punches."

Amy blushed while Mareep looked on curiously. "Okay, maybe Pikachu didn't deserve it, but the alternative was letting his Trainer get away with what she said."

"I get it," said Jerry. "I'm just a little sad that she might start mistreating her Pokemon."

"I'm sorry," asked Mareep, "but what are you two talking about?"

Amy explained what happened earlier that day as Mareep listened.

"Wow," said Mareep once Amy finished explaining.

Just then Nick came into the room. "Hey guys." They greeted him with various levels of joy. Amy tried to jump on him when he got close to the bed, but failed when her foot got caught in the blanket. Nick caught her and lifted her back onto the bed.

"So get this, there's a field out back that we can use, but first I need to use some potions on all of you. Yes," he said when Amy started to speak, "we can use potions for your back, it's not that bad. Then we need to nickname Mareep, because it'd probably be like if you called me human all the time."

Nick led them out of the room and, while Amy and Jerry walked ahead, started asking Mareep about what name she'd want.

"Dolly?"

Mareep shook her head.

"Woolly?"

Mareep shook her head harder.

"Mary?"

A furious shake of her head.

"Lightning?"

Thsi time she just raised an eyebrow and Nick sighed. This wasn't going well at all.

"Well, we gotta think of something," said Nick. Mareep nodded as Jerry flew up and opened the door to the field.

Amy and Jerry stopped dead in their tracks and looked out at the field. Nick almost bumped into Jerry, but stopped just a step away. Mareep did bump into Amy, sending both of them down the stairs and rolling. They came to a stop at a pair of sandals.

Nick took one look at the Trainer and groaned. "You have got to be kidding me," he said, his tone dripping exasperation. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Hello, Maya."

Maya looked at Nick and sneered. "Maya _Superior_ , if you please."

"I really don't," Nick said, deadpan.

Maya huffed and looked down at Mareep and Amy, the former shaking a little and the latter glaring. "So, you've added an Electric-type to your team. It changes nothing."

"You're right," said Nick, smirking. "My team can still beat yours any day of the week."

Maya's face turned red as she fumed. "Okay. I don't have time to waste on you anyway." With that she turned away and started walking to one side of the field.

Nick thought for a second. "Well, don't waste time. Battle me."

Maya stumbled, righted herself, then turned to Nick with shock written across her face. "So you can beat me again? I think I'd rather train for now."

Nick shrugged as his Pokemon stared at him with expressions of surprise and confusion. "And you will. Battles are one of the fastest ways Pokemon and Trainers gain experience, Trainer battles more so . We'd get more out of our training by fighting each other than we would if we just battled within our teams. Plus, it should be cathartic." He thought for a second. "For me at least."

Maya thought of a way to dismiss his statement, then thought about it. "Fine, we'll do things your way. But be warned that I'll use this opportunity to learn your secrets."

Nick smirked at her. "As long as you learn something. Our last match lasted five minutes, so try to make this one more interesting."

Nick and his team walked to one side of the field while Maya and her team walked to the other. They turned to face each other once they reached battle positions.

"Alright," said Maya, raising three Pokeballs, "come on out!"

Light flashed, fading to reveal a Pikachu, Caterpie and Pidgey. Nick took one look at the Pidgey and smirked.

"So, you've added a Flying-type to your team. It changes nothing."

Maya snorted. "Very funny. I assume the Pokemon behind you are your only ones?"

Nick gestured them over and they all stood in front of him, looking directly at Maya's team. Except for Mareep, who looked at them for a minute or so before becoming fascinated with her feet.

"Well," said Nick, "this is my team. You've already met Amy and Jerry." The Pokemon in question nodded. "The Mareep is...Elaine?"

Mareep thought it over for a second, then looked at him and nodded. "Oh, and Ellie?" She looked at him. "Stand up straight."

"Are you just naming your Pokemon so they're names rhyme?" asked Maya.

Nick shook his head. "No, that's purely coincidental, I assure you."

Maya sighed. "Okay. You've met my Pikachu." Pikachu bowed. "I caught the Pidgey and the Caterpie while you went spelunking in Sprout Tower."

Nick sighed. "Okay, I'm pretty sure spelunking only applies to exploring caves and technically I was taking a challenge."

"Call it what you want. So, who should we start with?"

Nick considered the question for a moment. "How about, we start off with Jerry versus your Pidgey?"

"Seems fair. Okay Pidgey, get in there." Pidgey stepped forward while Pikachu and Caterpie stepped back. Jerry did the same while Amy and Ellie walked under a tree to chat.

"Pidgey, Tackle!" ordered Maya. Her Pidgey took off aimed directly at Jerry.

When the Pidgey got close Nick said, "Jerry, fly up." Jerry flew up, Pidgey missing him by inches.

It shouted in surprise and swerved around to try again.

"Jerry, Tackle!" Jerry abruptly turned in the air and, flying downwards, hit the Pidgey with a Tackle. Pidgey shouted again, this time in pain, and dropped like a stone before righting itself, barely avoiding a collision with the ground. Jerry landed and watched his opponent.

"Remember Maya," shouted Nick across the field, "this is supposed to help us learn. Tell me what you gathered from that."

"You're a douchebag," Maya replied without hesitation.

"Yes, very good," Nick said, nodding. "What else?"

"You keep waiting for me to attack first." Realization dawned on her face. "You're trying to see how I battle."

"No, I just want to see how I can make you look stupid." Nick turned to Amy and Ellie. "You guys watch this too."

"Tell me that when you've been beaten up and just recovered," Amy grumbled. Ellie turned to watch the fight. She noticed how Jerry had landed and turned to Amy.

"Why is he on the ground?" she asked.

Amy looked over and shrugged. "Not sure."

Ellie shifted and looked down. "I didn't... hurt him, did I?"

Amy thought for a moment. "Not badly enough that you'd need to worry about it," she decided. "From what you told me he did most of the hitting, and most of those were Hypnosis attacks."

They both turned to the battle and settled down to watch. Pidgey shot towards Jerry with what looked like another Tackle, then hit the ground in front of him and kicked sand into his eyes. Jerry staggered back and shook his head to clear the sand.

"Sand-Attack, huh? Not bad Maya."

"Now Pidgey, Tackle!" commanded Maya. Pidgey shot towards Jerry again, more confident now.

"Jerry Hypnosis!" commanded Nick as soon as Pidgey was close. Pidgey kept going, flying right into the Hypnosis and falling asleep.

Maya stared uncomprehendingly, her mind struggling to process what happened. Jerry began shaking his head to get the sand out of his feathers. "What was that?!"

Nick rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah well, I was kind of hoping that Jerry's ability was Keen Eye. Turns out, it was."

Maya just stared at him. "And if it wasn't?" she asked.

Nick thought about that for a second. "Well then, that would have really hurt." Jerry glared at him and he raised his hands. "Hey, it worked right?" Jerry muttered something rude under his breath.

Nick cleared his throat. "With that, I learnt about Jerry. Since it'd take valuable time to beat up your sleeping Pokemon, can we move on?"

Maya sighed. "Sure, why not? Pidgey, return." The Pidgey was sucked up and Maya motioned her Pikachu over. "So, my Pikachu against your Mareep?"

Nick thought for a second. "Nah, let Amy battle Pikachu. As a matter of fact, when'd you catch your Caterpie?"

"Recently, why?"

"I caught Ellie recently. It must be fate. Hey, Ellie!" Ellie looked over at him and he gestured to Caterpie. "Lets you and him fight." Ellie nodded shyly and walked over, Jerry walking over to take her place next to Amy.

"Alright," said Maya. "Caterpie you're up." Pikachu hopped onto Maya's shoulder while Caterpie walked onto the battlefield.

Ellie shuffled over and took her place, regarding Caterpie with a look of wariness as Jerry and Amy shouted encouragement.

"Caterpie, Tackle!" Caterpie ran towards Ellie, faster than Nick had given it credit for, but still too slow.

"Ellie, Tackle!" Ellie ran at Caterpie and their attacks collided.

There was a brief struggle as they pushed at each other, then Caterpie knocked Ellie back. She cried out as she fell, then got back up slowly as Caterpie waited.

"Caterpie hurry, do another Tackle!"

"Ellie dodge!" Ellie froze as Caterpie rushed her, taking the full brunt of the Tackle this time.

"What's wrong with your Pokemon?" asked Maya. "She doesn't seem to be fighting well."

 _She's not fighting at all,_ thought Nick as Ellie slowly got to her feet.

"Caterpie, String Shot!"

Caterpie raised his head and shot a white sticky substance at Ellie. Nick briefly wondered if it was a metaphor for something less child friendly, then refocused on the battle.

"Ellie, dodge!"

This time Ellie showed enough sense to move, though her left leg and some of her wool was hit. She struggled with it for a second, then toppled over.

"Caterpie, Tackle!" Caterpie hit Ellie with another Tackle, sending her rolling. "String Shot!" More strings hit Ellie, almost completely cutting off any movement.

"Yes," said Maya, smirking. "Caterpie, Tackle, and keep it up."

The Caterpie landed three Tackles before Nick relented. "Ellie return!" Ellie was sucked into the ball and away from Caterpie, then promptly released next to her Trainer. Nick looked down at her and smiled sadly.

"Giving up Nick?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, I give up."

"I'm not surprised. I have become stronger and gotten more Pokemon. After this morning it makes sense that you would underestimate me. But that is the mistake you made, because in my family we don't just let anyone get away with beating us, especially not commoners like you. And now, with my new team I'll-"

"Oh my Mew, send your Pikachu to battle already! Seriously, Amy's already in place!" Maya looked and saw that Amy was indeed waiting and ready.

"Pikachu," she said as the Electric-type jumped off her shoulder and onto the battlefield, "destroy that Chikorita!"

Nick scoffed and Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh please."

Maya scowled. "You'll see. Pikachu, Thundershock!" A bolt of electricity burst from the Pikachu and hit Amy. She shook her head, looked at herself and looked back at Nick. He shrugged, just as confused as she was.

"What is she doing?" asked Maya.

"I don't think Electric-type attacks work well on Grass-types," replied Nick.

"Yeah, but my Pikachu is now strong enough to know Tail Whip."

"Amy, Tackle," said Nick, deadpan.

"Pikachu dodge." Pikachu ducked around Amy as she Tackled, it's fur barely ruffled. "See, while we were training, I noticed Pikachu's speed and knew that if I could teach it to use that speed, we'd easily beat you," said Maya, her Pikachu still bobbing and weaving around Amy's Tackles.

"Amy, Razor Leaf! Wide shot!" Amy began waving the leaf on her head from left to right, right to left, repeating the motions as dozens of sharp leaves went flying. Pikachu shouted as he was bombarded, Amy concentrating fire on him when he fell.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" shouted Maya, panicking slightly. Pikachu released the electricity in what it guessed was Amy's direction, burning the leaves and stunning Amy. It stumbled as it got up, bruised and tired as Amy shook her head clear.

"Amy, Tackle!" Amy threw herself at Pikachu, knocking it onto the ground. It stayed down and Maya looked at it, concern clear on her face.

"Give up?" Nick asked.

Maya gritted her teeth. "Yes, okay. Pikachu return. In fact, everyone return."

Once her Pokemon were in their Pokeballs Maya looked at Nick and his Pokemon. "That Chikorita..." Here she paused, struggling to find the words. "Was she that strong this morning?"

Nick looked at Amy. "She might actually be a little stronger now."

Maya nodded, eyes downcast. "Well, I'm going to go make Nurse Joy fix up my Pokemon." With that she turned and went to the Center, quieter now than when she started the battle.

Just as she was about to enter she turned and looked back at Nick. "You were right, you know. it was kind of cathartic."

Nick stared at her and, once the door was closd, astared at his feet. _Did she just admit I was right?_ he wondered.

"Chiko!" The sound dragged Nick out of his thoughts and he looked down to find Amy and Jerry struggling to pull the Caterpie's threads off Ellie.

"Oh, right, that happened." Nick slapped his forehead and knelt down. "Hang on, let me help."

 **(POKEMON CENTER, THAT EVENING)**

Nick pulled the last piece of Caterpie string off of Ellie and leaned back into the pillows. She stood up and began inspecting her wool, grinning happily when she was sure none of it was left.

"See I told you oil works," Nick said, Amy rolling her eyes. Jerry had fallen asleep on the floor around halfway through the string removal and neither Nick nor Amy felt inclined to wake him up, though Amy had joined him on the floor.

Amy turned away and nestled deep into the single pillow she'd taken, falling asleep in seconds. Ellie hopped down and moved onto the other side of the pillow, nestling in and falling asleep within a few minutes.

Nick got off the bed and began changing into his pajamas, when there was a knock on his door. He sighed, having just removed his shoes, and called out, "Come in!"

The door creaked open and Nick pulled off his socks as whoever it was came in. He looked up, then blinked, more than a little surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

Maya, dressed in thick pink flannel pajamas, bit her lip and gestured to his Pokemon. "Is it okay to leave them lying around like that?"

Nick stared and said, "It makes me feel safer to have them ready to bolt at a moment's notice. When they get too big, I'll keep them in their Pokeballs." He studied her for a minute before speaking. "You didn't come here just to talk about my Pokemon did you?"

Maya shook her head. "No, but them being asleep makes this much easier." She took a deep breath before she continued. "For what happened this morning, I'm sooooooooooo-" She broke off and tried again. "I'm so-o-o-o..."

"Sorry," Nick suggested.

"Yes, that," Maya said, latching onto the phrase.

"Wow Maya, I had no idea you had it in you to say sorry. Well, sort of." Maya opened her mouth, probably to yell at him, then thought better of it and took another deep breath.

"My parents were the ones who told me to apologise. Apparently, I shouldn't have disregarded your opinion like that and I should have had better control over my temper. So, will you accept my apology?"

"Okay," said Nick.

"Now, don't be so hasty. I'm sure that if you sleep on it you'll-" She stopped and registered what he'd said. "Wait, what?"

"Okay," Nick repeated. "I forgive you, apology accepted, yada yada friendship..." he trailed off as he began pulling his socks off.

"Really?" Maya asked, dubious. "You're forgiving me just like that?"

"Yeah, and do you know why?" When she shook her head he continued. "To throw you off. That and, well, you're entitled to your opinion, while I'm entitled to defeat you in battle for your opinion."

"Well, that's...mature."

"Thank you," said Nick, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Goodnight then," said Maya, turning to leave.

"Goodnight," Nick replied, waiting for her to leave before he removed his clothes, set them next to the bed, and put on his pajamas.

 **(ROUTE 33)**

"Ellie, Tackle." With another Tackle, Ellie knocked down the Caterpie who, tired of the fight, took off, leaving the Electric-type and her teammates smiling.

"Not bad, Ellie," said Nick, a hint of pride in his voice. "All you needed was a little confidence booster and you're unstoppable." Ellie beamed at him, happiness pouring off her. "It's still too late to say sorry." Ellie's face fell.

Nick sighed, walked to her and patted her on the head. "Okay, I'll forgive you. Barely." He muttered that last part under his breath, just in case she got offended.

"Ellie, how about a little spar?" asked Jerry.

"You're on!" Ellie replied, still a little excited about her victory over Caterpie. They'd been training all morning and that was the first Caterpie they'd seen.

Amy and Nick smiled as Jerry and Ellie sparred, neither of their attacks landing as they dodged and maneuvered, though their laughter made it clear neither was taking the fight seriously.

"So, you think we're ready for Falkner?" Nick asked Amy.

Amy thought for a second, then shook her head.

"Yeah, I get it." Nick sighed. "I really should do research on what type of Pokemon he uses, right?"

Amy nodded absentmindedly, then realized what Nick had said and stared at him, shock clear on her face.

"What?" asked Nick.

Amy started ranting at him, too fast for him to pick up what she was saying, but he did catch the tone she used. It was not at all pleasant and seemed to imply some form of harm.

"If you're mad at me for not knowing what type Falkner uses, sorry. Gym Leaders can change Leaders every couple years, and those new Leaders don't always keep the same types. I'll try winging it and seeing what happens."

Amy huffed and turned away from him.

"He uses Flying-types," said a voice from the terminal. They all turned to look and saw Maya, wearing the tracksuit they'd first seen her in.

"Of course it's Flying-types. I love battling Flying-types," said Amy.

"Flying-types, huh? Makes the 'winging it' thing a little funnier." Nick thought about it for a second, then turned to Ellie. "So, Ellie needs to learn a new move fast."

A sharp crack drew his attention to Ellie and Jerry, the latter a little singed and the former constantly repeating 'sorry'.

"I think she just learned an Electric-type attack," said Nick, satisfied.

"Maybe she did, but it's not enough," said Maya. Nick frowned at her and she kept going. "Falkner isn't a Gym Leader for nothing. Going in there relying on power and type won't be enough."

"In case you havent seen me battle, I don't rely on power," Nick replied. "I can get creative and so can my Pokemon."

"Slapping him in the face won't work," Maya said dryly.

Amy smirked at Maya. "Your challenge is accepted."

Maya ignored Amy and focused on Nick. "You should train your Pokemon, make sure they're all well rested, and try to avoid anything that will put them out of commission. You'll need all of them to beat Falkner."

"All of- I thought you could only use a certain number of Pokemon against a Gym Leader!" exclaimed Nick.

Maya shook her head. "Yeah, before the Pokemon League remembered that every Gym Leader is usually the strongest Trainer in their town. Do you really think you could beat them with just a few Pokemon?"

Nick thought that over. "What about the Champion?"

"The Champion?" asked Maya.

"Red."

Maya stared for a second, dumbstruck. "Don't you know? Red left the Pokemon League a few years ago."

Nick stared, mouth agape as he tried to process what Maya told him. _Red...left?!_

"Nick, why are you challenging the Gym Leaders?" asked Maya. "It can't just be for the thrill, right?"

Nick chuckled a little at that, then stopped when she glared. "No, not for thrills, though it's kinda fun." He trailed off, took a deep breath and resumed. "I wanted to battle Red. He's the one that got me interested in Pokemon journeys in the first place."

Maya pursed her lips. "I see." She turned and began walking back to town. "Well, good luck with your training."

"Thanks." As soon as Maya was gone Nick looked at Jerry. "Alright Jerry, we're going to train!"

Jerry blinked and stared at Nick.

"Look Jerry, Amy and Ellie already have a move each that's associated with their type. You need one too, and fast. So, for the rest of the day, we're going to train."

Jerry, upon hearing that, nodded his head once, his expression determined.

"Alright, let's go!" Nick paused as his stomach grumbled. "Okay first lunch." His Pokemon nodded. "Then, we go!"

 **(END CHAPTER 6)**

Honestly I was going to make this longer, but then I'd leave you on a cliffhanger, and I already did that. So now you know that Red left the Pokemon League, no surprise there, but in this fic I hope to explore why he did. Also I'm hoping to develop Maya's character as well as the unknown Trainer with the Growlithe.

On the next Journey Rarely Told: Nick faces off against Falkner, learns more about Red, learns about the Growlithe Trainer and does more research on the empathy bond. What will happen? What does the empathy bond do? What does the Vulpix say? Find out in next chapter.

If I make any spelling mistakes, let me know so I can fix them, review only if you think it helps and flame only if it's constructive. If I'm being flamed for being unrealistic, please note that Pokemon is in no way realistic (unless I'm too unrealistic).


	7. Chapter 7

On The last episode of The Johto Story Rarely Told, Nick learned of Falkner's Flying-types and Ellie learned a new Electric-type attack. If you've ever seen the original anime episodes you know that means nothing and this won't be pretty. See how the battle goes on **The Johto Story Rarely Told!**

I now prefer the anime, because despite a lot of confusion, at least the Pokémon know to fight when something threatens them... most of the time. This is still game based though.

 **(THE NEXT DAY, VIOLET CITY POKEMON CENTER)**

"So, things are okay back home?" asked Nick.

"Well mostly," answered his mother. "Professor Elm has been a little nervous around a couple of Hoppip, but other than that it's fine."

"You know you didn't have to call me," Nick pointed out.

"How else am I going to learn about your journey? A lot of Trainers forget to call home, and then their parents just have to hope for the best," she answered, sounding a little worried herself.

Nick sighed. "How about this: I promise I'll call every time I get to a new town," he offered.

"Sounds like a good idea. I hope you find what you're looking for honey," she said.

"Yeah," said Nick as she hung up. "So do I."

Nick put away his PokéGear and looked at his Pokémon. "Alright gang," he said as they finished breakfast

(Ellie) read a notebook (Jerry) and stretched (Amy). "Today we challenge the Violet City Pokémon Gym!"

A cry echoed from all of Nick's Pokémon, mingled excitement and trepidation in the air. They began talking amongst themselves for a few minutes before Nick spoke again.

"We'll need to play this safe. Lots of Pokémon have more than one type, so us knowing he's got Flying-types isn't much of an advantage. I'm going to need everyone except Amy to stay in their Pokeballs for now. That okay?" Jerry nodded and Nick recalled him, picking up the notebook he'd been reading. Ellie hurriedly finished the last of her breakfast before she was recalled, Nick rolling his eyes at her appetite.

Nick attached the Pokeballs to his belt before gesturing to Amy. "Well partner, lead the way."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Amy, running ahead out the door. "Let's go whoop some Flying-type butt!"

Nick, unable to understanding anything she'd said, shrugged and ran after her.

 _This shouldn't be too hard_ , he thought. _And we'll get to the Gym in no time._

 **(VIOLET CITY GYM, 3 HOURS LATER)**

"How did we get lost?!" asked Nick for the tenth time as they finally reached the Gym. Amy shrugged for the tenth time.

"Don't look at me, you're the Trainer here," she said.

"And now this officially marks the first and last time you lead me anywhere," said Nick. Amy huffed and looked at the doors of the Violet City Gym, Nick doing the same. "Well, guess we'd better go inside." Nick opened the doors and let Amy enter first, following soon after. He stopped inside and took in the Gym.

Aside from a shadowy, fenced off area at the back and a big round button in front of it the Gym seemed almost empty, though some kind of music could be faintly heard coming from above.

"That looks about the right size for a Gym floor. So where's the Gym Leader? Better yet where's the- Amy?" Nick stopped talking and looked at his Pokémon, who was staring up at something above the fenced off area. Nick looked up and gasped.

There was a large platform resting near the roof of the Gym which looked to be a part of the Gym. The music they'd heard was coming from the platform.

"Now how do we get up there?" Nick asked, looking around for a clue.

"Hey, over here!" Amy called. She knew her Trainer never understood a word she said, and she'd accepted it. There were benefits to him not knowing what she said.

Nick looked over and saw her pointing at a note stuck to the fence. He read it over once and blinked.

 _Dear Challenger,_

 _Since you've made it this far I suppose congratulations are in order, though me and the Elder are going to have words about him raising his Pokémon stronger. If you are here to challenge me please stand near the big round button and press it when you and your Pokémon are ready. It is_ highly _recommended that you:_

 _a) Sit down before you press the button and,_

 _b) Not have a fear of heights or rapid escalation._

 _Please follow these instructions to avoid any problems, dizziness, nausea or falls._

 _Yours Truly, Falkner_

"Weird," muttered Nick. He and Amy stood near the button, staring at it. Eventually Amy rolled her eyes and hopped on it. Almost immediately they shot up, raised on a mechanism until they were level with the platform they'd seen earlier.

"Not the smoothest ride I've ever been on," said Nick, one hand holding his head as he walked slowly onto the platform. _The music is louder here. Definitely hip-hop_ , he thought. He looked at Amy as she followed, weaving slightly. "Hey Amy, you okay?"

Amy nodded, shaking her head to clear any dizziness. "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked at the elevator like contraption. "We should do that again."

A strong breeze wafted around them and they both looked up, noticing the empty space where the rest of the roof should've been. They looked around them and saw the rest of the platform was firmly fixed to the walls.

As they looked around Nick and Amy caught sight of something across the Gym's battlefield and stared. There sat a boy wearing a blue gi under a green open vest with black sandals and long white socks. He was sitting and bobbing his head to music coming from a boombox on his left. He looked up and noticed them staring before shutting off his music.

"Sorry about that," the boy said as he blushed. He cleared his throat and stood up. "Anyway, I'm Falkner, Leader of Violet City Gym. And you are...?"

"Dizzy," replied Nick.

Falkner stared at him. "Um no, I meant your name."

"I'm Nick and this," he said gesturing to his Pokémon, "is Amy."

Falkner hummed thoughtfully. "So are you here to-" Then he looked at Amy and his eyes widened. "Wait, is that a Grass-type?"

"No, she just had a big breakfast and then some _rapid escalation_ ," replied Nick.

Falkner grinned. "Seriously though, you brought a Grass-type to my gym? You're aware of what type I use, right?"

"I can guess," said Nick as he looked up at the skylight. "That reminds me, I'm here to challenge your Gym."

"Well," said Falkner, standing in his place across from Nick on the battlefield, "do you really want to do that? I mean a Grass-type at a Flying-type Gym is kind of..."

"Thanks for the concern, but we really should start," suggested Nick. "And don't worry about Amy, she can handle herself."

"Yeah, what he said!" declared Amy.

Falkner looked at them both, eyes flicking between Trainer and Pokémon. "Okay. Though I don't get why you'd come here with a type disadvantage."

Nick smirked. "Yeah, whatever Karate Kid," he said. Amy giggled, and then whistled innocently when Falkner looked at her.

"Original," muttered Falkner. He cleared his throat. "For this battle I'll use two Pokémon. You, as the challenger, may use as many as you like," said Falkner, holding two Pokeballs in his right hand.

"Why don't you battle with more Pokémon?" asked Nick.

Falkner said something, so softly Nick couldn't hear it. Amy, however, could and began laughing.

"What?" asked Nick.

"I'm only allowed these two Pokémon," admitted Falkner.

Nick paused. "I won't judge," he said finally.

"Thanks. Now, will you send Amy out to battle?" asked Falkner, Amy's laughter stopping.

"Maybe," said Nick, tapping a Pokeball on the back of his belt.

"Alright, go Pidgey!" A bright flash of light and there stood Falkner's Pidgey, shuffling slightly and watching Amy.

Nick pulled the Pokeball from his belt and held it up, smirking as he saw Falkner's eyes widen. "Jerry go!" Another bright flash and Jerry stood on the battlefield, looking up and staring.

"Huh, a Hoothoot," said Falkner. "And you don't find it a little strange to challenge a Flying-type Gym with a Flying-type?"

Nick thought about that for a second. "Okay, I'll admit, that does dumb when you say it like that. It doesn't change anything though. We're still going to win this."

Falkner just stared before he smiled back at Nick. "I'm sure you'll try. Now Pidgey, Tackle!"

Pidgey shot forward and Jerry tensed, stretching his wings out slightly. Just as Pidgey got close Jerry shot up and over it.

"Pidgey, grab him!" Jerry squawked in surprise as Pidgey's leg swung out, grabbed his wing and slammed him into the floor. He hit the ground with a thud, groaning as he got up and shook his head. He looked up and saw Pidgey, hovering above him and smirking.

"Jerry, are you okay?" asked Nick, his left arm aching slightly. Jerry looked at him and nodded.

"So, starting to see what I meant?" asked Falkner. "I've been around Flying-types for most of my life. I know the tricks of the trade, and I know you can't beat me with a Hoothoot." A cry of agreement sounded from Pidgey.

"Jerry, you want to tag out?" asked Nick. To his surprise Jerry shook his head, staring at Pidgey with a fierce determination.

"Jerry, what are you doing?!" shouted Amy.

"This is my first Gym battle!" Jerry shouted back. "Even if I lose against it, I have to try. I have to see this through!"

Nick was silent for a moment. "So Amy, does he want to keep fighting?" he asked finally.

Amy nodded and turned to Jerry. "Hey, if you lose, at least wear him down for me."

"So he's not backing down... Quite admirable," said Falkner, looking at Jerry with a new found respect.

"Thanks. Jerry, do your best. Now, try Hypnosis!" commanded Nick.

Jerry fired a Hypnosis directly at the Pidgey. It dodged, then swooped down and tried to Tackle him. When he tried to take off a bolt of pain shot through his wing and he grimaced, slowing down just enough for Pidgey to grab him by the other wing and swing him into the ground again.

"That trick's getting old," groaned Jerry as he got up. He looked and saw Pidgey snickering at him, which only served to anger him further. When he looked towards Nick though he noticed his Trainer shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Your Pokémon will have a hard time flying with injured wings," observed Falkner.

"Jerry, Hypnosis!" Jerry began firing his attacks at Pidgey. It dodged the first, bobbing and swerving as it avoided the rest with relative ease.

"Pidgey, Tackle!" The Pidgey shot towards Jerry, dodging attacks as it went.

Jerry instinctively jumped up to fly, remembering too late what would happen when he stretched his wings. The pain shot through each wing as Pidgey Tackled him into the wall.

"Pidgey, Sand Attack!"

Jerry watched as Pidgey's leg swept towards him, kicking sand into his face to blind him.

"Good job Pidgey. Now let's-"

"Peck!"

As fast as he could Jerry jumped forward and Pecked Pidgey in the face, knocking it over. It squawked and scrambled to its feet, flying up and watching Jerry from a safe distance.

"Are you aware you suck at this?" asked Jerry mockingly.

"Go screw yourself!" was Pidgey's response.

"His Pokémon has Keen Eye," said Falkner to himself. "Pidgey quick, Tackle!"

Pidgey shot towards Jerry again, intent on finishing their fight.

"Jerry, Hypnosis!" Jerry tried the attack, but Pidgey dodged just as easily as it had before.

"Jerry, Peck it!" Just as Pidgey Tackled him Jerry Pecked it between its eyes. As he was thrown into the wall Jerry smirked at the pain on Pidgey's, happy to have hurt it at least once more. He closed his eyes and blacked out.

"Well trained, determined and a pretty strong Pokémon to boot," said Falkner as Jerry fainted. "That Hoothoot gets an eight out of ten."

Nick quickly recalled Jerry when he saw the Hoothoot's eyes swirling, then turned to Amy. "Ready to take that Pidgey on?"

"Yeah, I won't let him get away with that! Only we're allowed to tell Jerry to screw himself!" declared Amy, taking her place on the battlefield.

Falkner stared at Amy before he smiled and laughed a little. "Oh I see. Good one."

"Yeah, not bad, though it doesn't seem very funny," said Pidgey as it landed. Amy was confused.

"What? What's a good one?" asked Nick.

"The idea that you'd actually send a Grass-type to fight me, a Flying-type Gym Leader," answered Falkner, still smiling.

"Yeah, I'm serious about that. I'm really battling you with a Grass-type," said Nick, frowning in irritation.

Falkner smile shrank slightly. "Are- are you being serious?" he asked finally.

"Yes," responded Nick.

Falkner paused for a second, before visibly stifling an outburst of laughter, smiling at Nick apologetically. Pidgey didn't bother stifling anything and burst out laughing at the idea of battling a Grass-type.

Amy, already more than a little upset, Growled at Pidgey, startling it. "Hey Feather Face, are we going to battle or what?"

Falkner, noticing Amy's anger, looked at the Grass-type and smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, it's just a little hard to take this seriously." He took a deep breath to compose himself. "Alright, I'm okay. Let's do this."

"Good," said Nick. "Amy, Razor Leaf!"

Amy wasted no time in firing the attack at Pidgey.

Pidgey jumped up, spread its wings and was promptly hit by the attack. It squawked and dropped down, dazed and annoyed. "What the hell was that?!"

"I wonder if I'll ever meet a Flying-type who doesn't fall for that trick," mused Amy. "Oh well."

"Nice one Amy. Now, Tackle!"

Amy rushed forward, but the Pidgey took off just before she hit it, flying behind her before landing again.

"What's the matter? Can't keep airborne?" asked Amy mockingly.

"I can still fly just fine, unlike your friend," replied Pidgey.

"And yet he takes a hit _way_ better than you do," retorted Amy smartly. _That got to him_ , she thought, watching anger grow on Pidgey's face.

"Pidgey, Gust!" Pidgey smirked and began beating his wings, sending a powerful, concentrated blast of air at Amy.

"Amy dodge!" Amy jumped to the side, the blast of wind missing her by inches.

"Too slow!" said Amy, taunting and further annoying Pidgey.

"That does it!" declared Pidgey, rushing at Amy with a Tackle.

"Pidgey don't!" Falkner shouted.

"Alright! Amy, tank it!"

Pidgey slammed into Amy, but something was wrong. She wasn't skidding back like it had expected her to.

 _Wait, when I was laughing at her she- Oh crap!_ thought Pidgey, eyes widening when it saw Amy's feet firmly planted into the ground and the smirk on her face.

"Amy, return that Tackle!" Amy drew herself back then shot forward, knocking Pidgey back and dazing it. She quickly stepped towards Pidgey and looked it in the eye.

"This may seem rude, so suck it up," she said.

"What the-" was all Pidgey got out before Amy slapped it with her leaf.

"Challenge completed!" she declared.

"Amy, stop fooling around and Tackle!"

"Pidgey, take flight!"

Pidgey tried to fly, but Amy hit it with a leaping Tackle, knocking it unconscious. Pidgey stared at the sky, eyes swirling.

Falkner stared, surprised and more than a little impressed. "Not bad," he said, recalling his Pidgey. "The last guy who battled me fought with just a Fire-type. He won, but I didn't make it easy for him. At least now I know better than to underestimate your Grass-type."

"I can imagine," said Nick. "So, what else you got?"

Falkner smiled, a taunt and a challenge. "Oh, you'll enjoy this one." He drew his arm back, throwing the Pokeball with a flourish. A flash of light and there stood a Pidgeotto.

"A Pidgeotto?!" asked Nick, his surprise evident.

"Yes," said Falkner. "This Pidgeotto was my first Pokémon, and through our friendship it evolved!"

"I've heard of evolutions that happen when the Pokémon have powerful bonds with their Trainers," said Nick. "Good news for you is that your Pokémon is stronger when evolved. Good news for me is that, as long as it hasn't evolved through training, then it's not as strong as it should be yet."

Falkner smiled. "Maybe. Want to find out?"

Nick smirked. "Amy, Razor Leaf!"

The attack shot towards Pidgeotto, who dodged by taking flight with practiced ease.

"Guess one of you has to be smart," said Amy.

"Hope the same can be said for you and yours," replied Pidgeotto.

"Amy keep using Razor Leaf!"

Responding immediately Amy threw volley after volley of the sharp leaves at Pidgeotto as it struggled to avoid them all. After a few minutes some of the leaves hit it, startling it and causing it to fall close to the ground.

"Pidgeotto Gust!"

The Pidgeotto flapped its powerful wings and sent a concentrated burst of air at Amy. She tried to dodge it but was too slow, taking the full brunt of the attack.

"Amy, you need to get up!" urged Nick. He needed to focus. He could faint flashes of pain and a lot of frustration welling up within him, and he wasn't even sure all of it was his.

Struggling to her feet, Amy took a step forward and grimaced. Her chest hurt and the Pidgeotto was smirking at her, all very good reasons to be upset.

"Pidgeotto, let's kick some grass!" said Falkner. "Use Tackle!"

The Pidgeotto shot towards Amy and she tensed, ready to dodge or obey a command.

"Almost," said Nick, watching until Pidgeotto got close. "Amy grab onto it."

Amy moved to the side and used her forelegs to grab one of Pidgeotto's wings. She was yanked off her spot and rose rapidly, Pidgeotto now trying to shake her off. She clamped on it with all her legs and hung on tight.

"Get off of me!" shouted Pidgeotto.

Amy slapped him in the face a few times, stunning him. "That's how we deal with rude people in New Bark Town!"

"Alright Amy. Now, use Poison Powder!"

Amy smirked at Pidgeotto and began waving her leaf at it, releasing a purple powder that Pidgeotto tried desperately to get out of its feathers.

"Pidgeotto, don't worry about the poison. Drop that Grass-type!"

With one final shake Pidgeotto dislodged Amy and she fell. She faced her legs towards the battlefield and prepared to land.

"We've got it. Now Pidgeotto, Gust!"

Just as she got close to the ground Amy was buffeted by a powerful wind and thrown into a wall, landing in a heap.

"Amy no! Are you okay?" asked Nick, concern evident on his face.

Amy struggled up and looked at Pidgeotto, defiance shining in her eyes.

"Well," said Pidgeotto, trying to be encouraging, "at least you tried. You can always come back next time."

Amy chuckled at that and Pidgeotto looked at her, confused. "I won't be coming back tomorrow Feather Brain," she said. "There's still one more and she's-" Here she paused to consider, actually consider, Ellie. "I may- There's like a fifty-fifty chance I'll be here tomorrow," she decided, falling down.

"Amy, return," said Nick, quickly recalling his starter, phantom pains fading as he did. He clutched Ellie's Pokeball and looked at Falkner. "This is my last one Falkner. She'll win this."

Falkner looked on with interest. "By all means, send her out."

"Go Ellie, take this guy down!" The Pokeball flew, light flashed, and there stood Ellie, still fluffy and staring at Pidgeotto.

"Okay see, this makes more sense. I don't like it, but it makes more sense," said Falkner, nodding as his Pidgeotto did the same.

"See, that's just offensive," muttered Nick. "Ellie," he said, "don't worry about having to beat him. Just survive long enough and you'll win."

Ellie nodded and looked at Pidgeotto. "I don't know who you are," she said, "but I know that if the others aren't here, it's your fault."

Pidgeotto stared before he spoke. "There was another guy here, so _technically_ it's not all my fault."

"Ellie, do your best and we can have waffles," said Nick.

"You speak lies," decided Ellie. "And now I will defeat you, for waffles!"

"Offering incentives is one way to go," said Falkner. "Pidgeotto Tackle!"

Pidgeotto shot towards Ellie, intent on finishing the battle before the poison had time to work.

"Ellie Growl!"

Ellie Growled at Pidgeotto, startling it and causing it to shift slightly. She jumped to the side, barely avoiding the Tackle.

"I hate it when challengers come here with an Electric-type expecting an easy win!" declared Falkner. "I'll show you the true power of Flying-types!"

"Ellie, ThunderShock!"

Ellie blasted the electricity at Pidgeotto, who screeched and dodged, barely avoiding the attack. Before Nick could command her Ellie did it again, this time hitting Pidgeotto dead center and knocking it down.

"Awesome! Way to take the initiative Ellie," praised Nick. Ellie smiled bashfully.

Falkner grunted and gestured to Pidgeotto as it got up. "Quickly Pidgeotto, Tackle!"

Pidgeotto shot forward again, faster than before. This time Ellie moved too slowly, taking the Tackle head on.

She cried out as she was hit and landed awkwardly, though thankfully she was up again without too much trouble.

"Nice work Ellie," said Nick. "Just hang in there."

"Pidgeotto, keep Tackling it!" ordered Falkner.

"Ellie, keep using ThunderShock!" commanded Nick.

Pidgeotto flew towards Ellie as she turned to face it, electricity sparking in her fleece. She ducked around its Tackle and tried to blast it, but it swerved around her attack and tried another Tackle, this one finding its mark and knocking her to the ground.

Ellie struggled to her feet and glared at Pidgeotto. "I will win this. For Amy, for Jerry and for waffles!"

"What is wrong with these Pokémon?" Pidgeotto muttered, more than a little weirded out.

Falkner looked at Pidgeotto and noticed how tired it seemed. _The poison has been at work this entire time,_ he thought. _I need to finish this quickly._ "Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack!"

"Ellie, ThunderShock!"

Both Pokémon responded immediately, Pidgeotto making a Beedrill-line for Ellie so fast it was a blur as Ellie fired a shot of electricity at it.

Ellie's ThunderShock hit Pidgeotto as it squawked. She was about to smirk before Pidgeotto slammed into her, it's momentum from the Quick Attack causing it to crash into her.

Ellie struggled with Pidgeotto's weight for a second before she threw it off. "If you want anything you're going to have to take me to dinner first," she said.

"Dream on," responded Pidgeotto.

"Quick Attack Pidgeotto!"

Pidgeotto spread its wings to attack and flapped, rising off the ground slightly. As they watched though Pidgeotto's face screwed up and it shrieked, falling forward. Ellie, who had been cringing in preparation for Pidgeotto's attack, looked at the fallen Flying-type and poked it. It groaned in what sounded like pain.

"Pidgeotto what's going on?" asked Falkner. "You have to get up!"

"I'm trying," said Pidgeotto, voice thick with frustration as it struggled. "I'm tired."

"Ellie, Pidgeotto's weak." Ellie looked back at Nick, worried. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "No Ellie, this is a good thing. Well, for us anyway. Use ThunderShock!"

Ellie fired another ThunderShock at Pidgeotto as it tried to dodge, its body stiffening again just before it was hit. It squawked and fell unconscious, the combination of poison and an Electric-type attack finally knocking it out.

"Pidgeotto return," said Falkner as the Flying-type was sucked back into its Pokeball. Ellie stared for a minute before she broke out in an awkward dance, trying her best to ignore any lingering aches and pains.

"So, now that we've- Oh for Mew's sake, Ellie stop dancing!" said Nick, though he couldn't keep the smile of his face. Ellie stopped her strange gyrating, replacing it with a huge smile that Falkner laughed at.

"That's certainly a happy Pokémon!" said Falkner while chuckling. "Though I guess I'd be happy too if I just won a Gym battle for my Trainer the way you did." Ellie's smile turned bashful and she blushed.

"Yeah, she's definitely getting pancakes," said Nick. Ellie glared at him. "Okay, waffles as promised," he said, laughing a little as Ellie's face lit up and she squealed. "Alright, alright. First though we should get to the Pokémon Center."

"No," said Falkner, smiling as Nick and Ellie stared at him. He pulled something out of his pants pocket and offered it to Nick. "First you should take this, the Zephyr Badge." Nick took the offered badge and stared at it. "Oh, and uh, this TM, Roost. It should come in handy." Nick thanked him and pocketed the TM.

"So, how do I get out of here? Can I just slide down a rope down the side of the building?" asked Nick mockingly.

Falkner looked at him and shook his head. "Uh, no. You go out the same way you came in. On a completely unrelated note, I now have to discuss safety regulations with an old man."

Nick smirked again and made his way to the platform, Ellie following close behind. "See you around, Daniel-san," he said, waving goodbye to Falkner.

"Goodbye Nick. Don't forget to write your name on the winning Trainers list," said Falkner, watching as Nick descended with his Pokémon. He saw Ellie dry heave on the floor and smirked as Nick wrote down his name, sighed and carried her out. _Wait_ , he thought, _why would he call me- Oh, good one._

 **(VIOLET CITY POKEMON CENTER, LATER THAT EVENING)**

After the Gym battle Nick took his Pokémon to the Center to get them treated. There Nurse Joy assured him that all they'd need was a few potions and the night to recover. Now, while he used the computer, they enjoyed some delicious waffles and fresh water.

Of course, since everyone else was recalled during her fight with Pidgeotto, Ellie had to explain what happened. But...

"...and then I used ThunderShock and we won and it was awesome and-"

"Ellie, slow down," said Jerry, carefully enunciating each word. "You're speeding through it. Honestly, we barely caught what you were saying the first time."

Ellie blushed and looked down. "Sorry Jerry."

Amy glared at Ellie. "What did I tell you? Sarcasm and bad jokes keep up confidence. Mew knows you need it. Now, try another reply."

Ellie nodded and looked Jerry in his eyes, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Sorry Gramps, I forgot how slow you've been getting."

Jerry thought for a second. "Better, but it could use some work."

"Amy," said Ellie, her tone solemn.

"What?"

"I just wanted to thank you for the advice. Making a game out of it and making dumb jokes really helped so thanks for that."

Amy smiled at Ellie. "Hey, we're a team. We need to help each other if we're going to get anywhere." A moment passed as Ellie considered her words. "Are you going to finish that waffle?"

Ellie laughed and looked at Amy. "Look, I'm grateful and all, but let's not get crazy." They all laughed the atmosphere lighthearted.

"Hey guys, come look at this," said Nick. His Pokémon quickly gathered around him and he turned to face them. "I've been doing some research and apparently I'm not the first Trainer to feel what you're feeling."

"Come again?" asked Amy. The others echoed her and Nick sighed.

"Basically, whatever it is that lets me understand and feel what you're going through isn't rare. There are documented cases from Sinnoh to Hoenn and even Kanto. Hell there are cases of this happening in places I've never even heard of." Her Nick paused. "There's some kind of rumor that Red was like that, that he'd get exhausted as his Pokémon battled."

"Red? As in, the former Champion, the strongest Trainer in Johto and Kanto Red?" asked Amy incredulously.

"Yeah, but there's no evidence anywhere to support those ideas. He didn't do many interviews. It's just wild speculation," said Nick.

There was silence for a moment before a Trainer burst into the Pokémon Center. "Is there anyone that can help me?" he called out, a Growlithe clutched in his arms.

Nurse Joy ran over and looked at the Growlithe. "What's wrong with it?"

"We were exploring those old ruins when we were attacked. Growlithe beat one of them no problem, but there were too many. Please, you've got to help him!"

"Don't worry," assured Nurse Joy, "we've got him. Chansey, we need a stretcher in here now!" A Chansey wheeled a stretcher in. "Alright, now put the Growlithe on the stretcher and we'll start immediately."

The Trainer did as Nurse Joy said and watched as his Pokémon was wheeled away. He looked around, agitated now that all he had to do was wait.

"Hey," called Nick, the Trainer catching sight of him. "You need to relax. Panicking isn't going to help anyone, least of all your Growlithe."

The Trainer took a deep breath. "You're right," he admitted, calming down slightly. He took a look at Nick and paused. "Didn't I battle you?"

Nick nodded. "Been a while Black Hood. What happened?"

The boy sighed and pulled down his hood, running a hand through spiky green hair. "It's a long story. Honestly I'm ashamed."

Nick walked to the couch and sat down, gesturing the boy over. "I won't judge. Besides, I've got time to kill," he said, offering the Trainer his hand.

The boy stared, then smiled shakily, walked over and took Nick's hand. "Alex," he said, shaking the proffered hand and sitting down.

"Nicholas," said Nick as his Pokémon gathered around. "So Alex, what happened?"

 **(A HALF HOUR LATER)**

"And that's what happened," finished Alex. Nick hummed and Alex frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really," said Nick. "But for someone who went to the ruins looking for rare and powerful Pokémon, you certainly got what you were looking for."

"I guess," muttered Alex. "But Growlithe got hurt by Mew knows what, and now I've got no idea if he'll be alright."

"He will be," assured Nick. "Caring for Pokémon is practically in the Joy's blood."

"Yeah, you're right," said Alex, perking up slightly.

They chatted for a few minutes before Nurse Joy called Alex from the information desk.

He got up and walked over. "Yes, what is it? Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, mostly," said Nurse Joy. "It's nothing to worry about," she assured when Alex's face fell, "he'll just be on bed rest for a while. We have machines and medicine that will speed up his recovery, but it'll still take time."

"That's okay," said Alex, smiling now. "That's still a lot better than I was expecting."

"So, the Growlithe will be okay," said Jerry.

"Good for him," said Ellie. "He doesn't seem like a bad guy."

Amy squinted at the two of them. "Isn't that the same Growlithe you had to battle to get Ellie on the team?"

"Yes," answered Jerry. "Not bad, though he should work on his temper."

"Well," said Alex to Nick, "I should get home. It's been nice talking to you."

"You too," said Nick as Alex left the Center. "We should probably get to sleep too," he said to his Pokémon.

"He's right," said Amy. "Don't know about you guys, but I'm beat."

Nick walked to his room as his Pokémon followed. He opened the door and made sure they were all inside before he entered himself, looking down the hall at Maya's room as he did so.

"What are you looking at?" asked Amy.

"Nothing much. Just worrying about someone," said Nick, shutting the door.

Nick quickly got into his pajamas, moved his stuff out of Ellie's reach ("You know what you did," he said when she complained), turned off the light, locked the door and slipped into bed. "Goodnight guys."

His Pokémon repeated the sentiment and settled down. Within a few minutes everyone in the room was asleep, the day's events tiring them all. None of them saw the note slipped under the door or heard the footsteps hurrying away.

 **(END CHAPTER 07)**

And that's a wrap. Typing on my BlackBerry is a pain, but it gets the job done. I may not type new chapters for a bit, but I'll get back as soon as I can.

I wanted to know if any of you wanted Nick to travel with Alex, Maya or Alex and Maya. Let me know what you think and I'll see what I can do.

Next time on Johto Story Rarely Told: Nick is called by a mysterious person to meet in a strange location. There he learns something and someone gets stronger. Find out the answers to all these vague snippets...right now. Maya calls him to meet at the Ruins of Alph where she'll ask him to help her train in exchange for information. Also, Vulpix say Vulpix.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Pokémon.

And with that, I bid the readers a good hello. I got one review about my question, so Nick isn't travelling with anyone (except his Pokémon).

 **(RUINS OF ALPH)**

Nick arrived when the sun was high, Jerry next to him as they looked around. He took out his Pokegear and nodded.

"Its 12:35, and we're here half and hour earlier than I thought we'd be."

Jerry hooted in agreement, anxiously hopping from foot to foot. Nick glanced at him and sighed.

"If you want, you can scope the place out while the girls and I start on lunch."

Before the last word had left his mouth Jerry was up and away. The Trainer he'd left behind just shook his head and groaned.

"We have got to talk about what happened with Falkner. But for now…"

Nick released Amy and Ellie and told them what he'd be doing until Jerry got back, inviting them to help or relax as they chose. Ellie nodded and wandered off ( _To find a pre-lunch snack,_ Nick thought) whilst Amy took up a watching position close by. Satisfied Nick took what he needed from his bag and began making sandwiches, the only food he cared to make at the moment.

"The sandwiches are done," he told Amy once he was finished, but she didn't respond. Shrugging, he took a leisurely bite of his sandwich, intent on savouring the flavor. When he was done he looked up and noticed that Amy was looking at the sky, deep in thought. "Hey, I made you a sandwich. Hurry up or Ellie might eat it."

"Chi?" she asked absentmindedly.

"What's up Amy?" he asked, concerned. In light of the Violet Gym his Pokémon had opted to train that morning, but they hadn't eaten as much as he expected and he was concerned.

She just kept looking at the sky as if searching for something. Nick sighed and put away the utensils.

"I won't stop you from being worried about Jerry. I mean, I'm worried too." Leaving the sandwiches on a plate he knelt down in front of his Starter. "But what he needs now is time to think and a little understanding from us when he gets back."

Frowning Amy nodded and Nick sighed, nodding his head to the plate of sandwiches. "Come on, they're PB and J."

A loud yell alerted the two to Ellie as she dashed towards them with something in her mouth. As she got closer Nick realized that the mystery item was in fact a berry, and quite a large one at that.

"Oh my Mew, Ellie! That's huge," Nick said, beaming from ear to ear. "Are there any more?" When she nodded he stood up. "Amy, can you stay here while I go help Ellie with the berries?"

Amy nodded, the topic of Jerry dropped for now. Making her way to the sandwiches, she took one and began eating as he ran off to help Ellie.

"When we get back you can have a couple, okay?" Nick yelled back at the Chikorita. She just waved at him with her foreleg.

When he and Ellie reached the berry bushes Nick gasped. There were only a few of them, but they were all loaded with such fat, juicy berries that it didn't matter. As he and Ellie chose the one with the best looking berries and began picking them Nick couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face.

 _Maybe we can use these to start cheering Jerry up_ , he thought as he began stacking berries on his arm.

Just then a loud buzz sounded from behind the bush. Nick frowned and motioned for Ellie to follow him. They made it behind one of the bushes just as a Beedrill flew around the bush they'd been picking from. It buzzed, seeming confused by the lack of potential enemies, and walked back around the bush.

Nick watched this happen, waiting until the Beedrill was out of sight before he spoke. "You know, I always thought they flew everywhere."

Ellie looked up at him in surprise, but Nick was already moving, grabbing whatever berries he could before turning to return to Amy. Stunned, Ellie rushed beside him and whined, her gaze turning to the berries they were leaving behind.

Nick sighed and followed her gaze. "I know, I know. But we can't handle a Beedrill right now. They evolve fast, but there are too many stories of fully evolved Pokémon overpowering rookie Trainers. Heck, there are stories of them overpowering experienced Trainers too, so we don't need that now."

Ellie nodded reluctantly, still focused on the berries until they were out of sight. Nick sighed again and broke out in a jog, looking back at Ellie with an encouraging smile. She smiled back and ran after him, but he could see that she hadn't forgotten the berries.

When they got back to Amy she had finished her sandwich and was attacking a nearby rock, constantly running into it and causing little cracks to appear on its surface. When she caught sight of them she ran towards them, concern in her eyes.

Nick groaned and let the berries fall to the ground. "Don't ask, but this was all we could get under the circumstances."

Amy looked skeptical, but accepted the explanation and began herding the berries to Nick's bag. As she did so Ellie snatched up one of the better looking berries and began eating it, her expression thoughtful. At that moment a soft "hoot" sounded above them and Nick looked up to see Jerry circling above him.

Nick could almost see the lightbulb flashing above his head. 'Hey Jerry, get down here."

Jerry stopped his circling and landed on Nick's shoulder, careful not to injure his Trainer with his claws. Nick whispered his plan to the Hoothoot and watched with a small grin as Jerry's face lit up.

 _This is going to be good._

 **(10 MINUTES LATER, BACK AT THE BERRY BUSHES)**

Nick smiled and crouched, warily watching the bush the Beedrill was behind. "You're clear on the plan?"

Jerry nodded and fluttered to a nearby branch, ready to take off when Nick moved. The plan basically boiled down to Nick sneaking in, taking berries and leaving just as quietly as he'd come. Jerry had been his backup Pokémon only because he was the quietest and made Nick feel safer.

Nick nodded and began moving, slowly but surely making his way to the Beedrill's bush. As much as this plan worried him, Jerry had to admit that his Trainer was doing remarkably well for a human. He'd seen humans try to be quiet before, but all that usually did was alert the Pokémon they were trying to sneak up on. Nick, on the other hand, looked as if he'd snuck around Pokémon before.

When he reached the bush Nick paused and took a moment to steady his nerves. At this Jerry left his perch and flew past Nick and the bushes, perching in the trees above the Beedrill. While he knew he was only needed as a last resort, he also knew that a Hypnosis would be better than a Peck.

Jerry focused on the Beedrill, listening intently as his Trainer picked the berries, each movement slow and precise, making as little noise as possible. When he saw Nick hold up a berry, forefinger and thumb extended, he breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the Beedrill.

 _Sorry about this,_ he thought. _But I want them too._

With that he flew overhead again, swooping lower when he passed over Nick. His Trainer gasped and whipped around, surprised at Jerry seemingly appearing out of thin air.

"When I figure out how you do that, I will be unstoppable," Nick whispered. "Let's go."

Nick crouched and began moving away from the Beedrill's bush. For the first time Jerry noticed that he'd removed his jacket and was using it as a makeshift sling to carry the berries. His mouth quirked an eyebrow at his Trainer's behavior but flew close behind, looking back every so often to check if they were being followed.

When Nick felt that they were far away enough he stood up and broke into a jog, an elated grin on his face. "And to the victors go the spoils," he said, casually tossing Jerry a berry.

Catching the berry in his beak, Jerry began hopping next to his Trainer. Holding the berry between his wings, he tore into it, the mixture of flavors catching him of guard. _It's wonderful,_ he thought a twinkle in his eye.

"Good, right?" Nick chuckled and bit into his own berry. "Try to save the seeds though."

Jerry nodded and took another chunk out of the berry, the juice staining his wings, though he couldn't care less. In that moment he was simply enjoying the heat of the sun, the thrill of his victory and the feeling of his Trainer walking alongside him.

 **(BACK AT THE TERMINAL)**

Nick had no idea why he was doing this, but he was doing it. While Amy and Ellie battled each other nearby, he and Jerry faced each other, the Hoothoot's head tilted in confusion.

"What is there to understand?" Nick groaned. "We don't have another team member for you to battle against, so what you're going to do is practice your attacks on me for now."

He noted that Jerry still looked confused, but some of that confusion was replaced with worry.

"This is the third time I'm explaining this," Nick muttered. "We need to practice your attacks on a moving target. Amy and Ellie are battling each other." He gestured to himself. "So, I present to you your moving target."

Jerry frowned but nodded anyway, tensing himself to attack. He flew forward and Nick shifted, ready to avoid the Tackle.

"This is either impressive or sad, but I can't tell which."

Startled, Nick turned to face whoever had spoken, his eyes leaving Jerry. This proved to be a mistake, as Jerry was too close to swerve away and ended up barreling into his Trainer. Nick gasped, pain exploding across his abdomen as he fell backwards, the attack knocking him off his feet.

Nick groaned, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he steadied his breathing. He was dimly aware of his a large leaf waving in front of him and focused on it instead of his ribs.

When he felt he could speak again without wheezing Nick looked at his team and grinned. "Okay, I'm seeing some real improvement, but keep at it. Oh, and Jerry," he said, glancing at the Hoothoot, "your Tackle could use a little work."

Jerry nodded and grinned, a look of relief appearing on his face.

Someone scoffed behind him. "Acting tough, Nick? I expected more."

Frowning Nick stood up, ignoring the twinge in his front, and turned to face the speaker. Staring back at him haughtily stood Maya with her hands on her hips. She was wearing the same workout suit he'd seen her in at Sprout Tower and her hair was done up in a braid.

"Not tough, just practical," he said, shrugging. "Anyway, you called me here. Did you want something?"

Maya grinned and removed a Pokéball from her belt. "I want to beat you Nick. One Pokémon each, no switching, winner gets a prize."

Nick cocked his head at her, surprised by her sudden eagerness to battle him. "No switching's a given if it's one-on-one. Let me see if anyone's up for it first though." He turned to regard his team, frowning as he noticed Amy wasn't there. Turning back he saw her standing in front of him, her leaf waving around as she smirked. "Well, there you go," he said, gesturing lamely.

As they two Trainers took their places Ellie and Jerry moved to the sidelines, the Hoothoot watching Maya as his teammate cheered. Nick thought about that for a moment before shrugging and facing their opponent.

"Come on Maya, we don't have all day," he taunted.

Maya simple smirked and removed a Pokéball from her belt. "No, we don't. Go Pikachu." A flick of her wrist and Pikachu stood on the field, cheeks sparking as he dropped to all fours.

Nick breathed in deeply, the tension in the air growing. He could feel Amy's excitement, and it was infectious. "Amy, Razor Leaf."

She wasted no time, her spinning leaf sending a barrage of leaves at Pikachu. Maya's smirk faltered slightly, but she seemed determined. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

With the leaves only a few feet away, Pikachu grinned and _moved_ , his body a yellow blur as he swept around the battlefield. Amy was too stunned to respond and cried out when a blow to her right sent her rolling. Nick cried out in response, the right side of his body aching.

"Quick Attack again!"

Amy had just righted herself when she was once again sent rolling, Pikachu striking her right again. Nick gritted his teeth, his own right side throbbing. He was starting to panic, especially since Pikachu seemed too fast to track and Amy, despite her ability to take a hit, couldn't get an attack in. He heard Maya command Pikachu again and he reacted.

"Amy, use Poison Powder to your right!" he shouted, his stomach tightening.

Amy flung her leaf to the right, a cloud of purple spores enveloping the surprised Pikachu. It spluttered and coughed, the Poison taking effect as the Chikorita took the opportunity to regain her bearings.

"Amy, try not to roll when you dodge," Nick warned. She nodded at him in response, her gaze fixed warily on her opponent.

Maya, however, merely grinned. "Pikachu, Thunder Wave!"

Shaking himself, Pikachu released what looked to be an electrified Hypnosis. Amy tried to dodge but stumbled, her right leg flinch as she put weight on it. She growled when the attack hit, turning to run and gain some distance. Suddenly she froze, toppling over as her muscles locked up. Nick felt his own muscles clench in response and ground his teeth.

"Don't move too fast, that'll only make it worse," Nick warned. Amy nodded and stood back up, her leaf waving in the air.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Maya commanded, her Pokémon moving almost as soon as she'd finished speaking.

"Amy, Razor Leaf!" Nick shouted, struggling to keep calm.

Amy tried to respond, but was knocked back anyway, her body moving too slowly to keep up with Pikachu's speed. Crying out, she flew back but landed on her feet, her body swaying as Pikachu paused to watch her.

Seeing how the battle was going he sighed and raised his hand. "I forfeit."

Maya blinked, surprise blanketing her features. "What?" she asked, sounding surprised.

Nick didn't respond, walking over to Amy and lifting her up. Only then did he look at Maya. "You're stronger than we expected. I'm forfeiting," he said, handing over her prize money.

Surprised, she nodded and pocketed the money. "I asked you here to see if you could help me train."

Nick rolled his eyes at her. "You seem like you've got that covered. Now if you'll excuse me…"

With that he strode to his bag, his team following after him, and gently laid Amy down. When he was satisfied that she was comfortable he began rifling through his bag, sighing as he realized that the money he'd gotten for his poster was the same money he'd just given Maya. Shaking his head he found and removed a Paralyze Heal, turning to spray it onto Amy.

When he was done she raised her head and smiled at him, Ellie lying next to her. He smiled back, running his hand across her flank. "You were great out there." She pouted and he chuckled. "Oh come on, you were amazing. Losing to someone stronger isn't something to be ashamed of." She gave him a look. "Yes, I'm counting Pikachu as superior, at least speed wise. Let's just see this as a learning experience." Standing up, he turned to his bag again and took out a Potion, returning to Amy. "Anyway, you ready to get back on your feet?"

She grinned widely and nodded her head, wincing when her muscles protested. Nick shook his head and sprayed the Potion on her, watching in wonder as she leapt to her feet and began running around him. Ellie squeaked in surprise and began chasing after her, Jerry rolling his eyes at their antics

"Maybe I should try one of these," he joked. Jerry's eyes widened and he shook his head furiously, causing him to chuckle. "I'm just kidding. Mostly."

Nick's smile faded as he took a deep breath, putting the battle out of his mind as he took in where they were. _One of the oldest ruins in Johto, and they just let anyone in! On the plus side, it's an amazing sight to behold._ He breathed deeply and sighed, taking in the atmosphere. _I don't think anyone could ruin this._

"You know, after a loss like that, I thought you'd be angry at your Pokémon," Maya said from behind them.

 _Except her,_ Nick amended, ignoring her. "I would be, but we were outmatched. Anger wouldn't change anything. Unless…" he said thoughtfully.

"You're not one of those people who says things like 'Pokémon abuse is wrong' and 'only scum abuse their Pokémon' are you?" she asked dubiously.

"Not really, I prefer to silently judge and tell people stronger than me," Nick noted.

Maya was quiet and Nick almost turned to face her before she spoke. "I'm heading to Azalea Town now. See you around, Nick."

Nick turned to watch her leave, a small frown on his face. He huffed as sat down, wincing when the muscles in his stomach protested. He looked at his team and frowned, noting the looks of anticipation on their faces.

"What is it?"

Jerry didn't answer, instead using his wing to indicate the terminal. Nick sighed and stood up, putting his bag on with a small grin.

"Alright, but anybody who doesn't want to walk stays in their Pokéballs," he said.

None of them took him up on the offer.

 **(ROUTE 32)**

Nick watched as the boy screamed and ran away again, sighing when Amy stepped in and scared the Pokémon off.

"I'm confused, why am I doing this again?" he asked.

Ellie shrugged and kept watching the boy. Jerry was overhead in case they missed anything and Amy, tired of sitting and waiting, had taken the direct approach as the kid's bodyguard. Nick wondered briefly if she was getting bored.

On their way to Azalea they'd been stopped by a strange man wearing grey trousers and a white shirt. Ordinarily Nick would have simply said hello, but the man had called him over and practically begged for his help. He said his name was Earl Dervish and he ran the Pokémon School in Violet City. He'd planned on taking some kids to Route 32 to catch their first Pokémon, but the teachers who were supposed to act as supervision/ protection had come down with the flu that morning.

Of course Nick had no idea why Mr. Dervish would tell him any of that, but the teacher apparently thought that someone with the Violet City Gym Badge would be strong enough to act as supervision for the Route 32 Group. Nick had been about to decline his offer, but the idea of teaching something to some younger kids (and maybe learning something in return) had persuaded him.

Then he'd learned that all of the "kids" were in fact around about his age, and were planning on studying for the next few years rather than going on journeys immediately. They also took one look at him and began questioning whether he'd beaten Falkner, prompting a Tackle from Amy that quickly shut them up. By now most of the studying Trainers had caught a Pokémon. It was just one boy, younger than the rest, who couldn't seem to get it right.

Said boy came hurtling towards them and psyducked behind Nick, quaking as a Rattata followed soon after. Ellie fired a ThunderShock at it and it hissed, turning tail and racing back into the overgrowth. Nick watched it go thoughtfully.

"So, how much longer do you think you'll need?" he asked the kid.

He shrugged and looked at the ground, embarrassed. Nick sighed and focused on Amy and Jerry as they trudged back to him, glancing at the student almost curiously as they passed.

"Nick?"

He turned at the sound of his name, grinning when he recognized the speaker and the Pokémon that followed. "Alex, Growlithe, how are you?"

"We're doing well, thanks. I'm actually out here to catch a Pokémon."

"Maybe you could help Stan," Nick pondered, noting the Pokéball Alex held. The student Trainer was looking between the two, confused and frightened.

"Excuse me sir," Stanley said haltingly, "but, I think I, um, need some more help."

"Clearly." Nick considered his current team of three before he focused on Ellie. "Ellie, think you can back him up while he catches his Starter?"

Ellie chirped her agreement before running around the boy. He tried to turn to look at her, but she was already shoving him away and towards where she knew the Pokémon were. Nick watched them go, trying and failing to hide the amused grin on his face.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Alex asked, trying and failing to hide his own grin.

"You're not?" Nick countered.

Alex shrugged. "Fair point, though I don't know why you didn't start off with lending him a Pokémon."

Nick frowned at the other Trainer's words. "Would you believe me if I said it was advice my mom gave me?"

"Yeah, I can believe that." When Nick gave him a nonplussed look he shrugged. "Kids mimic their parents. I don't care much."

"Whatever," Nick scoffed. "If he's going to be a Trainer he needs to learn to focus under pressure."

Alex frowned at him. "You seem grumpy. How long have you been out here?"

"Two hours," Nick stated.

"And how long have you been out here with _him_?" Alex tried.

"One and a half hours," Nick groaned. "On the plus side, we've been using this time to help Jerry train."

They both glanced at their Pokémon just as Amy and Growlithe began lightly shoving each other, though from the look on Jerry's face it wasn't anything serious. Alex frowned and Nick glanced at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't even know what I want yet," Alex admitted. "I just figured we'd come here and catch whatever. Anyway, I'm off. See you later Nick."

With that Alex took off, leaving Nick with his Pokémon and Amy without anything to distract her. He sighed and sat down, watching with interest as she and Jerry started sparring with each other. Just as the fight was starting to get heated they heard the student shout, "I caught one!"

Nick stood up, shocked as the boy ran back to them with an almost manic grin, Ellie running ahead with an excited grin. He couldn't help but chuckle at the looks on their faces, knowing that he'd probably do the same thing in their shoes.

"Good job kid. How'd you do it?" he asked curiously.

The student stopped dancing and said, "Well, we were just walking around and we saw it- sorry, him on the ground. I told your Mareep to attack, but she walked over and started talking to him and then he just let me catch him." Just then he looked almost worried. "I'm just scared that he won't be very strong."

"So what if he's not strong?" Nick asked, shrugging. "Power is a relative term anyway. Having a strong Pokémon isn't nearly as important as knowing how to battle with them."

The student smiled and nodded. "Alright, then come on out, Zubat!"

"What?" Nick blurted, but it was too late for him to run as the Zubat materialized.

Not wasting a second it flew around, screeching into the late afternoon, before landing on his Trainer's head. He giggled and reached up to run his hand along his wing. "Isn't he adorable?"

Nick stifled his natural urge to start moving and nodded uneasily. "Sure. Adorable," he said, giving him a shaky smile.

The student grinned, Zubat giving a cry of agreement from his head. Nick barely kept from jumping, eyes locked onto it.

"Are you going back to town," the student asked and he dragged his eyes of the top of the boy's head to look at him.

"Yeah, I figure I can rest at the Center and head for Azalea tomorrow."

"Okay, goodbye," the boy said, already running back to town.

Nick followed at a more leisurely pace, trying and failing to whistle a tune. He looked back and noticed that, except for Amy, his Pokémon were looking more than a little tired.

"So, anyone want to rest in their Pokeballs for now?" he asked coyly.

Jerry and Ellie nodded immediately and Nick chuckled as he recalled them. As soon as they were gone Amy ran up and began strolling next to him. He looked down at her, a sense of pride welling up in him.

"You were all amazing today," he gushed. "When we get to the Pokémon Center I'm finding you guys some kind of treat." When he noticed Amy looking down at her feet he shook his head. "And I do mean all of you."

She glanced up at him, grinning widely, before bouncing off towards town. Nick was surprised for a brief moment before dashing after her, a small smile on his face.

When they arrived at the Pokémon Center the first thing they noticed was a man in a pink shirt and overalls, head bent as he sat in the waiting room. Nick stared at him for a bit, wondering why he was there, before he saw the man's face and something clicked.

"Mr. Dervish!"

The Pokémon School Principal looked up, his face lighting up when he saw Nick. "Nicholas! Good to see you it is. Wanted to give you reward, Nurse said wait here."

"Sounds great, just give me a second to get my Pokémon checked out," he said, turning to head to the counter. Removing Jerry and Ellie's Pokéballs, he bent to lift Amy up and placed her on the countertop.

"Chiko?" she asked curiously.

"Sorry Amy, but as long as we're here we should get everyone a check-up. At least nothing will attack us here, right?"

She nodded, apparently satisfied as she was recalled and the nurse took them away. Nick watched them go, only turning when the door to the back room closed. Making his way to Mr. Dervish he huffed and sat next to him. "Have you checked in on all the kids? One of the younger ones only caught a Pokémon a little while ago."

"He fine, yes. Went home, didn't barely say hello."

Nick nodded, already losing focus. "Yeah, he had a Zubat." He shuddered. "Hope it goes well for him."

"Go well will it," said the teacher. "I help, teach training." He stood and told Nick, "Your reward with nurse. Ask when ready."

With that he twirled, and kept twirling, all the way out the door. Nick watched as he spun down the road and even around the corner.

"How does he not throw up?" he wondered. Shaking his head he stood and made his way to the nurse's desk. "Excuse me?"

The nurse looked up and smiled at him. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to check on my Pokémon."

"Oh yes." She turned to her computer and looked something up. Nodding, she turned back to him. "Your Pokémon are fine. The Chikorita was a little more hurt than the others, but all they need is a little rest."

"That's good," he said, smiling. "Oh right, a Mr. Dervish said he left something with you?"

The nurse nodded. "Are you here to collect?" When he nodded the nurse said, "Excellent, may I check your Trainer ID?"

Nick handed it over and watched as the nurse scanned the card. When she was satisfied she stood and handed his card over, heading for the back room. Nick watched her leave, confused why she hadn't just handed his reward over.

 _Wait, why is my reward in a Pokémon Center?_ he thought, resting his elbows on the countertop. _If we're on that topic, why is it being called a reward and not payment?_

"Here you go," he heard the nurse say, and turned to watch as she placed four Pokéballs and a key in front of him. "The key is for your room, since I assume you'll be staying the night."

"You assume right," he said absentmindedly. He stared curiously at the four Pokéballs before asking, "If you don't mind my asking, what is that?"

The nurse blinked and gestured to the balls, indicating each one as she spoke. "This one is your Hoothoot, this one is your Chikorita and this one is your Mareep."

Nick fastened the balls to his belt in the order he was used to, the comforting weight putting him at ease. Noticing the way the nurse was looking at him he frowned. "What?"

"Aren't you taking your fourth Pokémon?"

Nick simply stared at her as he released his team. "Jerry, Ellie, Amy," he said, pointing each one out in turn. "My team only has three Pokémon."

"Mr. Dervish said you would be taking care of this one from now on," the nurse said, pushing the fourth Pokéball towards him.

"Mr. Dervish has been spinning too much," Nick stated calmly, lifting the Pokéball and peering at it. "What kind of Pokémon is it?"

"Mr. Dervish didn't say," the nurse said, looking thoughtful. She stepped back and called Chansey over. "Chansey will make sure it doesn't react violently."

Nick sighed and stepped back, turning to release the Pokémon away from the nurse. He looked at his team and said, "I need you guys to back me up on this."

They nodded and heaved out a breath, tightly gripping the ball. Steeling himself, he drew back his arm and threw the Pokéball. He watched as the ball released a white light, shutting his eyes against the glare. He felt the ball shoot back to his hand and caught it reflexively, looking at the new possible teammate as soon as the light faded.

"Clef?"

Nick blinked. "What?"

Standing there, looking lost and confused, was a Cleffa. As soon as it saw Nick and the Pokéball he was holding it dashed towards him and let out a happy squeal. Almost by instinct Amy darted forward and swung her leaf, a purple powder flying into the Cleffa's face. Nick watched in horror as the Pokémon coughed and sputtered, and then…ran towards Amy and hugged her, a small smile on its face. Amy stood shocked, surprised at the happy little Pokémon and its ignorance of her Poison Powder.

"Is that Cleffa okay?" Nick asked the nurse, who frowned back at him.

"I can't be sure, but it doesn't seem like that Poison Powder is affecting it."

Nick puzzled as the Cleffa went around hugging each of his Pokémon, quirking an eyebrow when Ellie nuzzled it affectionately.

He knelt in front of them and, looking at the Cleffa, said, "My name is Nick. In exchange for helping some kids catch their first Pokémon Earl has apparently asked me to train you. If you ask me, this is another favor."

Cleffa responded by letting go of Ellie and running to hug his leg. Nick sighed and stood up to face the nurse, stumbling slightly as Cleffa hung on. "It can tag along if it wants, but I've got no experience with these kinds of Pokémon."

"Not many people do," the nurse assured him. "They have to be specially bred after all."

"Of course they do," Nick groaned. He looked down at Cleffa and it peered up at him, a happy smile on its face. "So, would you like to travel with us?"

It nodded its head feverishly and squealed, running towards Amy again, but Nick reached down and scooped it up, placing it on the nurse's counter.

"Visible affects or no, Amy hit you with a Poison Powder. You're getting checked out."

Cleffa nodded again, seeming calmer, and waited as the nurse sprayed her with an Antidote. Nick sighed as she hopped off the counter and began chatting with Jerry, who looked quite surprised at the sudden addition to the team.

"I'm calling my mom," he said, handing Jerry his Trainer I.D. "Bring this back when you're done eating."

He sat down in one of the waiting room chairs and watched as his Pokémon made a mad dash for the cafeteria. Someone tapped his shoulder and he turned to see a girl wearing a red tracksuit.

"I saw what happened. That Cleffa of yours has the ability Magic Guard." When he just looked puzzled the girl sighed. "Magic Guard is an ability that prevents your Pokémon from getting hurt by weather or status ailments. You have to hurt it to hurt it."

Nick nodded and smiled at her. "Okay, thanks," he said, pulling out his Pokegear as the other Trainer wandered off. _This will take some getting used to._

 **(END CHAPTER 08)**

After a year or so, writing again feels weird. And yes, I have spent some of that time researching these things and, while having a Cleffa with Magic Guard may seem unfair, I thought it would be okay for Nick to have one since I'm planning on giving everyone else a seemingly overpowered Pokémon anyway. The reason for this? I want to explore the idea that "powerful" can be a relative term. Also, restricting some of the areas where you can catch Pokémon seems stupid, but that could just be me.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Also, do we really need disclaimers at the beginning of _every_ chapter?

 **(ROUTE 32)**

Nick watched, already bored as the two Trainers began arguing again. Honestly, "arguing" was too light a term to describe what they'd been doing.

They'd been travelling for a few days now, and in those few days they'd learned something very interesting about their new teammate: he really liked to battle.

They'd only begun to suspect it when they'd started down Route 32. They'd run into a Trainer who'd challenged them to a two-on-two battle, but instead of Amy the first one in front of Nick had been Andy. He'd called him back, of course, but the other Trainer took it as a yes and Amy had been eager for a match anyway, so it worked out. While they had won ("Why is it always Zubats?" he'd grumbled) the very fact that Andy had rushed to battle like that made him wary.

As they'd gone down the route this process had repeated itself, Andy rushing in to battle wild Pokémon only for Nick and the others to help him, and each time he rushed forward their idea that he liked battles seemed more likely. He doubted Andy liked to hurt others (he was very nice otherwise), but he seemed genuinely happy to be in a fight. Nick didn't know how to handle it, but for now there weren't any problems.

 _At least he's getting along with everybody,_ Nick had thought.

Recently they'd run into two Campers (though why they used that term he had no idea) who'd started arguing which of their Nidoran was better. Nick had only gotten involved because Andy wanted to battle them and now he was watching as they argued who "deserved" to go first. And that's where they'd been for the past twenty minutes.

"Maybe you should go first," Roland, the male camper, said, "I wouldn't want his Pokémon to be tired when they face us."

"Are you implying that we're weaker than you?" Liz, the female, said dangerously.

"There's no need for me to _say_ it. Anyone could see it just fine."

Their arguing starting anew Nick sighed and walked past them, Roland shifting to let him pass before rounding on Liz again. Just before he was out of earshot he heard her say, "That's it! Nidoran, let's take this guy down!"

"Nidoran go!"

"And now they battle each other," Nick muttered. He began sprinting. "Let's leave before they finish!"

They travelled like that for most of the day, chatting about this or that as they went. Nick was happy to spend time with them, little shivers going down his spine as every time he thought of where he was.

 _I'm travelling with my Pokémon,_ he thought, _and we are on our way to beating the strongest Trainer._ He frowned. _But first…_

"Andy, are you feeling alright?"

The little Normal-type nodded, a bright and sunny smile on his face.

"It's just that I don't want you getting discouraged is all. We'll work on some more strategies when we break for lunch." He checked his PokéGear and blinked. "Which just so happens to be in twenty minutes. Race you!"

With that he took off running, surprising everybody. He turned back to see if they were following and saw Andy riding Amy and giving what sounded like a war cry. He laughed at the sight and ran fast, the fresh air filling his lungs.

 _I've really got to figure out how this "bond" thing works._

 **(*)**

"So, how are do you feel about the time you've spent with us?" Jerry asked.

Andy smiled back at him. "It's super fun. You're all so nice."

Jerry nodded and asked the question. "So, you really like battling?"

"Uh-huh." Andy nodded. "I have to be really strong, cause then I can beat the other boys."

Jerry nodded, but didn't question it. Beating other Pokémon and proving your strength was important, so he couldn't hold it against him. "So, is that the only reason? You don't want anything else?"

"No." Andy looked at him strangely. "Do you want something else?"

Jerry blinked at him. "I guess not." He chuckled. "Should be fun to see where we go from here."

 **(*)**

"I like the new guy," Ellie said confidently.

"Are you sure, though? We still don't know much about him, and he was given to us. Who gives a Pokémon they have to specially breed?" Amy knew she sounded paranoid, but she couldn't relax about it.

"Maybe he just thought Nick would be a good Trainer," Ellie suggested helpfully. "We did earn a Gym Badge."

"It's still suspicious," she grunted.

"Amy," Ellie asked, concerned, "are you worried about your spot on the team?"

She looked down at her feet. "Neither I nor Jerry could beat Falkner," she ground out finally.

"So what?" Ellie shrugged. "I couldn't beat him either. I would have lost without my ability working when it did."

"So you're saying it was luck?" she asked hopefully, glancing at her teammate.

"Definitely," Ellie answered.

She thought about that for a minute. "Then we should get to training, and harder now than ever. We can't always rely on luck"

"Yep, what you're saying makes sense."

"So," she asked slyly, "who's practicing with Andy?"

They both looked back at their Trainer, then at Jerry and the pink puff walking beside him. They looked at each other in mutual understanding.

"Jerry," they said together and giggled.

"Soups on," Nick called and they all rushed to their bowls.

 **(AFTER LUNCH)**

Andy huffed and stood straighter, his gaze focused on his opponent. "You lose!" He rushed forward arms swinging as he beat his enemy into the floor. Stepping back with a satisfied smile, he watched as his enemy lay there, too weak to stand up.

"Andy, stop attacking the rocks! We need to get back to training."

He turned to see his Trainer watching him, Ellie dozing while Amy and Jerry stood beside their Trainer. Excited, he dashed towards them and waited in front of Jerry.

"Now Andy, Jerry here is going to be your sparring partner again and I'll be over here watching. I'd like to get a little for info on how you fight before I try this new thing."

Andy looked at his sparring partner and tilted his head. "So all I have to do is win a fight?"

"Not exactly, but yeah," Jerry answered.

Nick cleared his throat and they focused on him again. "Before you two start I'm going to try something new. You can back out if you want, so Amy?"

Amy walked over and before Andy could ask she'd swung her leaf forward and covered them in purple powder.

Jerry squawked and jumped back, but he'd already been covered. "WHY?"

Nick raised his hand. "My fault, I'm testing something." He gestured to two bottles at his side. "These are Antidotes for if the Poison gets too much to handle. Not for you, Andy, it's for Jerry." Andy stared at him, confused, and he sighed. "I'm checking a theory, so just- just keep battling."

Jerry huffed and flew forward, firing a Hypnosis as he did. Andy yelped and dodged, quickly balancing and jumping forward.

"Pound!" he cried, swinging his arms forward to hit his teammate.

Jerry took the hits before flying upward, shaking his head at Andy. "Maybe we should start with standard strength trai-" Jerry winced and dropped, quickly flapping his wings to stay in the air.

Andy was confused, but he quickly shouted "Charm!" and looked at Jerry with a cuter look on his face. Jerry frowned and fired another Hypnosis, which Andy ran from.

 _I can't reach him from here,_ Andy thought, staring up at Jerry. _And I can't make him come down. I'll keep using Charm then._

He gave Jerry another cue look and the Flying-type quickly swooped down and tried to hit him with Peck. Andy grunted as he was hit and sent flying, but quickly stood up and rubbed his belly, surprised. He looked at Jerry, who'd landed in a tree, and smiled.

"You're attack wasn't very strong," he taunted, remembering what Amy tried to tell him. "Am I just too Charming?"

"How long have you been waiting for a chance to say that?" Jerry asked.

"All day," Andy said. Before Jerry could respond he hit him with another Charm attack.

"That's it!" Jerry shouted and flew down to hit him with a Peck. Andy waited until he was too close to turn away before he shouted "Pound!" and began hitting him again. Jerry tried to fly away, but suddenly seized up and fell to the floor.

As soon as he saw this Nick ran over and used the Antidotes, spraying Jerry with something else too. Andy watched in surprise as Jerry stood up as if he hadn't been Poisoned or constantly hit and Nick turned to him.

"Do you need a Potion?" he asked, holding up a bottle of the stuff he'd given Jerry. When Andy shook his head Nick nodded and sat back. "Well, this explains something anyway."

Amy, having walked over from where she'd been watching, looked confused. "What do you mean?" she asked their Trainer. Andy nodded, he also wanted to know what Nick was saying.

"In our battle with Falkner his Pidgeotto froze as if it was Paralyzed," he said, looking closely at them. "At first I thought it was Ellie's Static, but most status ailments don't allow for more than one at a time. So if the Poison hadn't affected Pidgeotto in that way when it did we would have lost."

Andy raised his hand and Nick focused on him. "How does the Poison do that?"

Nick shrugged and said, "If you're curious, Pidgeotto was tired and was being hurt faster than anyone expected thanks to Amy's Poison. But, and this is a big but, we still would have lost if he knocked Ellie out first, so his Pidgeotto slowing down because it got tired was very lucky."

Andy raised his hand again. "What?"

Jerry sighed and Andy focused on him. "Certain statuses can go together, but Poison and Paralysis aren't able to go together. Pidgeotto being just a little more worn out, along with Poison, are probably the only reason we won the first time around," the Hoothoot explained. "Get it now?"

Before Andy could ask for a better answer Amy started shoving him away. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

"We won because we got lucky, and no matter how they explain it I'll still hate it." She moved to stand across from him and growled. "Now, I'm taking over as your sparring partner because we are winning our next battle with _skill_ and not _luck_."

Andy felt something in his chest flutter and sent a smirk at Amy, bending his legs slightly. "That sounds brilliant."

She smirked back and he charged her.

 **(VIOLET CITY)**

Alex smiled at his newest Pokémon. "You, who now stand before me, have been chosen to become my latest partner. But not only have I chosen you, you have chosen to accept me, and for that I am grateful. But really all I wanted to say was just, really, just thank you so much for helping me. I mean that." He felt his face flush slightly.

Hoppip nodded, letting out a little cry of happiness.

"Alright, now," he said, turning on his heel, "we begin our training." He looked at his team and frowned. _One, two, three…_ He sighed. "Hoppip I need you in front of me."

The bouncing Grass-type quickly took his place alongside his teammates and waited for what came next. Alex rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to decide who would match up where.

"Okay, so it's Hoppip with Jerry and Growlithe with Spinarak," he decided.

Hoothoot glanced at Hoppip before looking at Alex doubtfully as Spinarak glanced at Growlithe and skittered nervously.

"Don't worry, everything should work out alright," Alex assured them. Shaking their heads they moved off in their pairs and began training.

Alex watched as Hoothoot and Hoppip fought, Hoothoot throwing itself into every Tackle. Even as he watched Hoppip did nothing but bounce around avoiding attacks and occasionally bounce of the ground as if trying to get it to do something.

Looking towards Spinarak he watched as Growlithe dodged the tiny Bug-types attacks with surprising ease. No matter what Spinarak did, whether it was a String Shot or Poison Sting, Growlithe was able to avoid our counter every move. Alex meanwhile was waiting to see if these were all the moves the newest team members knew.

Glancing at Hoppip again he blinked as the Grass-type glowed green and began bouncing with way more energy than he should have had. _Did he just heal himself?_ Alex wondered. Just then he saw someone in some sort of gi coming towards them. He stared when he realized who it was. _FALKNER?! What? Why?_

"Hello, young man," Falkner called. Alex stared and looked behind him, but there wasn't anyone there. "Yes, I was calling you. Are these your Pokémon?"

He shut his mouth and nodded when he realized that yes, Falkner was talking to _him_.

"You know you can't just train them out in the middle of the street like this, right?" Falkner continued.

Alex just nodded again, still trying to wrap his head around Falkner speaking to him. The Gym Leader sighed and kept talking.

"Well, are you going to move? There's a training ground at the Pokémon Center you can use, if you don't want to head out of town to train."

Finally Alex realized that his Pokémon had stopped battling and were watching him. "Yes, of course." He struggled for something else to say. "Thank you, Falkner sir."

Falkner stopped and Alex tensed, trying to figure out what he'd said. "Thank you," he said finally,heading for his Gym. Suddenly he froze and turned to look back at Alex, staring at him thoughtfully. Making up his mind about something he walked back to the surprised Trainer. "Actually there is something I could use your help with."

Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yes, absolutely, anything!" he rushed out, excited. Something nudged his leg and he looked down to see Growlithe staring up at him with confusion in his eyes. "It'll be fine Growlithe." He looked back at Falkner. "It will be fine, right?"

"Should be," Falkner said. "Recently an unknown Pokémon has been causing trouble near the Sprout Tower. The monks have tried to handle it, but whatever it is keeps giving them trouble. Think you're up for it?"

Alex nodded, a wide grin spreading across his face. "No problem, I can at least be your backup."

Falkner smiled and nodded. "Great. Meet me at the tower in 10 minutes."

With that Falkner left and Alex let out a relieved sigh. Turning to his team he grinned and said, "Well, we can still train afterwards, right?"

Spinarak looked relieved.

 **(*)**

Alex took another calming breath before strutting over the bridge. "Hey."

Falkner looked up and waved, causing Alex to smile nervously.

 _Keep it together man. You've got to be calm about this. Standing_ next to Falkner he turned to him and asked, "So, what do, uh, _we know_ about this Pokémon?"

Falkner shook his head and grinned apologetically. "It's fairly tough, but considering who it's fighting even that's debatable. If you have any ideas feel free to share them."

Alex nodded, an idea already beginning to form. When they got to the yard Falkner removed six Pokéballs from his belt and began organizing them, checking each one as if deciding which would be best. Alex nervously began rocking on his heels, trying to work up the nerve to say what he was thinking.

 _Should I tell him,_ he thought, glancing at Falkner. _Maybe he already knows. I don't want to sound rude, but what if he doesn't know? Maybe it'll help him._

"So, um, I had a, uh, idea, if you want to hear it," he croaked out.

Falkner looked up at him. "Sure, go ahead," he said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Well, since this mystery Pokémon is fighting Bellsprout I thought it could be a Fire-type or a Psychic-type?" he rushed out. "I mean, unless you think it's something else, I can-"

"No, it's a good theory," Falkner noted, finally deciding on one of his Pokéballs.

 _HE ACKNOWLEDGED IT!_ Alex thought excitedly. Out loud he asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"Your Spinarak can act as support, slowing down whatever it is with its String Shot, while my Pokémon fight it directly. If my Pokémon get knocked out it should be weakened enough for your team to handle. For now though we should wait for it to show up." With that Falkner sat down crossed his legs and closed his eyes, the Pokéball he'd chosen resting in front of him.

Alex blinked and shifted, unsure of what to do. "Should- should I go and ask the Elder for snacks or something?"

Falkner shrugged, "If you want."

"Cool," he said, hurrying back into the building. Noticing a monk nearby he rushed over to him. "Excuse me sir, but were any snacks prepared for Falkner?"

The monk nodded and began walking away. Confused, Alex followed after him, noting the cracks in the walls and the way the monk kept shifting one of his hands to the inside of his robes.

"Nervous?" he asked, startling his guide.

"This Pokémon has attacked us when we've least expected, but so far it has taken little," the monk answered. "We hope that Falkner can help us with this problem."

Reaching the kitchen the monk took a tray off a table and handed it to Alex. "That should do for now. Please, feel free to come back if it isn't enough."

Alex nodded, his mind focused on something else. Looking up he noticed the monk staring at him.

"Is something wrong with it?" the monk asked, sounding confused.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just, well, why not contact someone else, or gang up on it when it shows up?" Alex asked. He felt bad about casting doubt on Falkner, but he was genuinely curious.

"Ganging up on it might not do much at all. We do train often, but it defeats our Bellsprout too quickly for us to do much against it," he explained. "And besides, Falkner may be the strongest Trainer in town, but the Elder thinks this will be a good character building moment for him."

Alex nodded, thanking the monk before turning and heading back to the yard. As he walked he considered what the monk had told him, trying and failing to figure out why the Elder thought Falkner needed character growth. Wasn't he grown enough to be a Gym Leader?

Shaking his head he stepped through the door and focused on Violet City's Gym Leader, who'd released a large black Flying-type. "I got the snacks."

Falkner and his Pokémon turned to look at him, the Pokémon focusing more on the snacks than the person holding them.

"Great, I've been getting peckish," Falkner said.

Walking over, Alex stared back at the mysterious Pokémon and tried to figure out what it was. _So, I know it's a Flying-type. It does look sort of like a Murkrow, but it's too fat to be a Murkrow. Isn't it?_

"So, that's a Murkrow?" he asked, offering Falkner the tray.

"Close," Falkner answered. "It's Murkrow's evolution, Honchkrow."

Alex nodded, watching closely as Falkner gave Honchkrow some of the snacks. Getting an idea, he placed the tray on the floor and released his Growlithe. The orange Fire-type tilted its head at him and he smiled, snatching some snacks off the tray.

"Care for a bite?" he asked, offering the snacks.

Growlithe smiled and moved closer, but just before he took the snacks his ears perked up and he turned to face some bushes. Sniffing the air he began growling, gaze now focused on the bushes. Alex heard a twig snap and jumped to his feet, staring nervously at the bush, which now appeared to be rustling.

"Honchkrow," he heard Falkner say. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Honchkrow stand in front of his Trainer, its chest puffing up in an attempt to look bigger.

"What do we do?" Alex asked nervously.

Rather than answer him directly Falkner commanded, "Thunder Wave."

Thin strings of electricity burst from Honchkrow and hit the bush, a screech rising from behind it. Alex jumped at the sudden attack, but quickly released his Spinarak.

"Spinarak, use String Shot on that bush!"

Spinarak hesitated briefly before firing his String Shot towards the bush. Before the attack landed a Pokémon leapt from the bush and fell over, static dancing across its brown fur. Alex stared as the Teddiursa struggled to get up, but it soon fell over again. Thin and scraggly, it was covered in scratches and glared fearfully at them from its position on the ground. When Honchkrow moved its eyes shot to the Flying-type and stayed there, its body frozen.

Alex struggled for something to say. "It looks like it needs a Pokémon Center," he stated lamely.

To his surprise the Teddiursa's eyes widened and it jumped to its feet, dashing towards them. Before it got too close Honchkrow was on it, almost casually batting the smaller Pokémon into the ground and holding it there.

"Probably, but we can't just take it there," Falkner noted. "Want to catch it?"

Alex shook his head, looking warily at the Normal-type. "I want to, but I can't be sure it's alright. Not until we at least feed it something."

"A…sensible decision," Falkner reluctantly agreed.

Honchkrow let Teddiursa up and Falkner offered it one of their rice cakes, which the hungry Pokémon quickly stuffed into its mouth, plopping onto the floor as it did. They did that for a few more minutes, every snack they offered almost immediately consumed by the hungry Teddiursa, who was beginning to look a little less tense, though that may have been the berry Falkner gave it.

"Do you feel kind of bad for planning to attack it?" Falkner asked suddenly.

"Yes," Alex answered, rubbing the back of his head.

Falkner nodded. "Good, at least it's not just me." He handed Teddiursa an apple, watching as it finished half the apple in one bite. "Listen Alex, I need to tell the Elder about this. I trust you and your Pokémon can take Teddiursa to the Pokémon Center?"

Alex nodded, an excited grin spreading across his face. He quickly released his remaining Pokémon and told explained what they were doing before facing Falkner and saying, "No problem. I promise I won't let you down."

Teddiursa got to its feet and walked through the door, quickly running back out when one of the monks glanced at it. Alex chuckled and looked at his team.

"You guys help Teddiursa and I'll explain the situation to any Trainers we meet," he suggested.

They let out cries of agreement and Alex smiled. Walking slowly for Teddiursa's sake they made their way to the Pokémon Center. They were lucky in that nobody asked them any questions, though they got a few odd looks, but it was only once they'd entered the Center that Alex recognized a problem. Teddiursa froze as everyone in the Center turned to look at them and would have run had Growlithe not stopped it.

Clearing his throat Alex walked forward, trying to project some confidence through his movements. Their walk through the lobby felt like it took forever, but everybody seemed to be continuing their conversations or just ignoring him and his Pokémon. When he reached the front desk he turned to Teddiursa and bent to lift it.

"Don't worry no-one here will do anything but help you," he whispered, hoping to keep it calm. Turning to the Nurse he placed Teddiursa on the table and smiled. "Hello, could you please help us? I found this, um, wandering around, and I uh, thought this would be the best place for it."

"Of course," the Nurse replied, typing something into her computer. "So, were you wandering or the Pokémon?"

Alex thought about that. "Yes."

The Nurse blinked at him but nodded, picking Teddiursa up and holding it close. "We can do a standard check-up for now, but it doesn't look like there'll be any problems. I can tell you more afterwards."

Alex blinked, nodding slowly. "Sounds like a plan. I'll just wait over there."

He walked quickly, heading for the seats, and plopped into the one farthest from everyone else. His Pokémon followed close by and he recalled them almost absentmindedly, leaving only Growlithe. The Fire -type quickly settled at Alex's feet and rested as his Trainer sighed, considering the day's events.

 _Today was AWESOME!_ he decided. _Sure, there was the whole thing with the Teddiursa, but I got to meet and spend time with Falkner!_ He heard someone clear their throat next to him and looked up to see a boy with a backpack and a Zubat on his head watching them. _On the other hand…_

"Hey, was that Pokémon yours?" the boy asked.

Remembering how weak Teddiursa looked Alex answered, "Yes it was actually. Why do you ask?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Growlithe tense at his feet, looking relaxed to anyone who wouldn't know better.

"Because I've never heard of a Teddiursa wandering around Violet City," the boy stated. "So, how'd you get it?"

 _Why does he look familiar?_ Alex thought. Finally it clicked and his eyes widened. "I met you a few days ago!"

Growlithe barked at that, finally looking up and noticing who the boy was.

"Oh, you mean when I caught Zubat?" the boy asked, reaching up to scratch the Pokémon in question.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I remember because I caught Hoothoot around the same time. Um, Simon, right?"

"Stanley," he corrected, sighing.

"Right, sorry."

"No problem. So, what about that Teddiursa?"

Alex shrugged. "There isn't much to tell. I found a Teddiursa and it was hurt, so I brought it here."

"Really?" Stanley asked, sounding surprised. "You just randomly decided to bring an injured Pokémon here?" 

Alex grinned, the urge to tell somebody what had happened getting to him. "Not really. See, I was training my Pokémon when Falkner comes by and goes 'You can't do that here' and I'm go 'Yeah, I get it' and then I-"

Someone cleared their throat in front of him and Alex looked away from Stanley to see Falkner standing in front of them.

"So," the Flying-type Gym Leader started, "I've spoken with the Elder and they've got no interest in keeping Teddiursa around. The Nurse tells me that there shouldn't be any problems, but Teddiursa will need to be careful how much it eats for now. Something about too much rich food making it sick right now. Also it's been throwing up, just in case you were wondering." He quirked an eyebrow at Alex. "If this is a bad time I can…?"

"Um, no sir," Stanley said shakily. "I was just asking Alex how he got his Teddiursa." 

"Um, Stanley, it was never my Pokémon," Alex admitted. "I just said that in case you wanted to catch it."

Stanley nodded dumbly, his focus on Falkner.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Falkner, Violet City Gym Leader," Falkner said, holding his hand out to the schoolboy.

Stanley looked between Falkner and the hand he'd offered, looking both confused and awed. Finally he shook the Gym Leader's hand and croaked out what sounded like 'Hello'.

"Are you a Trainer too?" Falkner asked.

"Ye-yes sir. I'm, uh, studying, so I can, uh–" Stanley's eyes widened. "Oh no, I forgot I've got a class project." He bowed to Falkner before taking off, turning back at the door to call, "Bye Alex!"

"Bye," Alex said lamely. When Stanley was gone he turned to Falkner and asked, "So, what do we do from here?" 

Falkner shrugged. "Not sure. Truth to tell I think you should catch it, and if that doesn't work we take it somewhere else."

"Why wouldn't it just stay here?" Alex suggested. "The Center has everything."

"It could, but considering the Center needs to take care of multiple injured Pokémon, which often change from day to day, any permanent residents would act as more of a hindrance."

"Shouldn't you be telling Teddiursa all this?" Alex asked.

"I did, but it was… occupied," Falkner said, turning his head away. "I'm sure it heard me though. Anyway, I've got to head back to the Gym. See you around."

He turned and left, leaving Alex alone with his thoughts. After a few minutes though Alex realized something very important.

"Did he just dump whatever happens to Teddiursa on me?" he asked.

Growlithe nodded sagely.

"Of course," Alex muttered

 **(END CHAPTER 09)**

Greetings readers! I went a little off topic with this chapter, but I'm probably going to do something similar with Stanley and/or Maya next. It has recently been suggested to me that I ask you, the readers, for criticism for my story, so if you have anything you'd like to point out I'd like to hear it.


	10. Chapter 10

Welcome back. I do not own Pokémon, Pokémon is owned by GameFreak, Nintendo and Creatures. No joke, one of the companies might actually be called Creatures.

 **(UNION CAVE)**

Maya awoke to the sound of her bag rustling. Turning over, she looked towards it and saw a bolt-shaped tail bobbing back and forth as Pikachu searched for something.

Grinning mischievously she reached out and ran her fingers lightly over the yellow tail. The result was immediate, Pikachu yelping and scrambling around in a panic. Drawing her arm back quickly, she closed her eyes and waited for Pikachu to come out of the bag.

She heard him stop scrambling and move closer, but then he went quiet. Cracking open one eye to see what he was doing she saw him pulling on his eyelid and sticking his tongue right in front of her. She yelped and tried to jump back, but her hand slipped against her sleeping bag and she fell, giggling as Pikachu jumped onto her and pretended to make himself comfortable.

"Okay, enough playing around," she said, trying to seem serious.

Pikachu took one look at her frown and burst out laughing, forcing a grin onto her face. Breathing deeply she tried to focus and stop herself from cracking a smile. She failed.

"Okay, whatever," she said aloud. "Let's just eat something and then we can get back to finding a way out of here. Or training, whatever ends up happening."

Pikachu grinned and hopped off of her, watching her carefully as she got up. Rolling up her sleeping bag she turned and frowned at how focused he seemed to be on her actions. It was only when she opened her bag and pulled out the Pokémon food that his expression changed, a grin spreading across his face.

"Were you seriously trying to get to the food before I woke up?" she asked dubiously.

Blushing, he nodded quickly and averted his eyes, but focused on her again when she opened the bag of food.

"You're so weird," she joked, pouring the food into bowls. When it was ready she released her Pokémon and gestured to the bowls. "It's time for breakfast."

They cheered and dove in, practically gulping their food down. She chuckled and dug out some bread for herself, eating slower than her Pokémon. Once they were done she changed clothes and faced her Pokémon.

"Alright gang, listen up," she started, feeling confident. "Now I know we haven't made much headway on getting through this tunnel-"

Pikachu groaned and stretched, trying to work out the aches in his muscles.

"-and I'm well aware that we're at a bit of a type disadvantage whenever we're in here-"

Butterfree and Pidgey curled into balls and whimpered. Maya rolled her eyes at their antics.

"- _but_ , we do have three options for getting through."

Each of them focused on her again, curiosity in their eyes, and she grinned.

"Option 1: we try our luck with Confusion, Quick Attack and Gust." They whimpered and she nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Option 2: we catch a Pokémon with a type advantage and hope we can power through the cave, or option 3: we wait for someone with a Pokémon that has an advantage over all the Rock-types in here and go with them."

There was a pause as the others decided on their options. Finally Pikachu and Pidgey each dropped a single stone in front of themselves, Butterfree moving two in front of her.

"Option 1 it is, with option 2 remaining as a backup plan," she noted. "Not bad Eva."

They glanced at each other, confused, before looking back at her.

"No, no, it's Butterfree's new nickname," she explained. "I've decided you all need nicknames! Butterfree, you are now Eva. Pidgey, you will be known as Sasha. And Pikachu," she dropped to her knee in front of him, "your new name is Zigzag."

Pikachu frowned, considering the nickname, before shrugging.

"Excellent," she said, standing up. Turning to the stone steps she said, "Come on guys. We're trying option 1."

They were up the stairs in seconds, Maya quickly ordering Sasha to use Gust on a Sandshrew that jumped at them. Not a split-second later she ordered Zigzag to use ThunderShock on a Zubat. When a Geodude appeared before the Zubat hit the floor Maya groaned.

"Don't you let people rest?" she asked, not expecting an answer. "Eva, Confusion!"

There was a moment where the Butterfree in question glanced at her before it remembered its new nickname and knocked the Geodude out in one move. Maya glanced around, but there didn't seem to be any new Pokémon waiting for them.

"Alright, let's hurry through before-"

A heavy roar interrupted her and she froze when an Onix's head slipped over the rocks. In that moment, the split-second before it noticed she was there, she made a critical decision on how to handle the large Rock-type without too many injuries.

"RUN AWAY!" she screamed, her team following her without hesitation.

When they were out of the cave and back on Route 32 she sat down near the cave entrance and groaned.

"The morning's barely started and we've already run back out of that cave," she whined. "I mean, you guys have been getting stronger and all, but we aren't making any progress. And we've been here for days." Making her mind up she stood. "Option 1 has failed us. We're moving on to option 2."

Zigzag tilted his head at her and gestured vaguely to her PokéGear.

"No, we are not calling my father," she insisted. "We are catching a Pokémon on our own. Didn't you hear me when I explained option 2?"

Zigzag shrugged at her outburst and she recalled Eva, who seemed quite happy to be able to relax. Walking back to the Pokémon Center she wondered if whichever nurse was on duty would know where to catch a Grass or Water-type.

As she walked into the Center she noticed a small group of people to her left. They all seemed focused on something she couldn't see and were crowding. Even as she watched something happened to what they were watching and one of them jumped in surprise.

"Yeah, go Red!" someone cheered.

Maya frowned, the voice somehow sounding familiar. Shaking her head she headed for the counter and handed her Pokémon over to be healed, promising Zigzag that she would get them as soon as the nurse said it was alright. As she waited she grew curious about what the crowd was doing and went over to check it out.

Moving around the people standing on chairs she realized that there was a TV fixed to the wall playing what looked like a Pokémon battle. As she watched the Pikachu on screen ran at its opponent and, surrounded by electricity, slammed against the much bigger and, she assumed, stronger Pokémon. It went down and didn't get back up, but the Pikachu flinched as electricity crackled across its body.

"Pikachu is taking recoil damage. They won't be able to do that again without a risk of fainting," someone behind her murmured.

"Yeah, but the challenger is worse off. Ground-type move or no Ground-type move, sending a Yanmega against Red's Pikachu was dumb," someone else insisted.

Maya turned to ask the second person what he'd meant, but froze when she saw someone she hadn't expected. Sitting there was one Nicholas Garret, though he seemed too intent on the match to actually notice her or the glare she shot him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" someone else asked.

"Well he got in close, so he couldn't have been very experienced with the move, but the minute he got too close Red had Pikachu use Volt Tackle," someone else explained. "And since Yanmega's part Flying-type…"

"As expected of the League Champion," Nick said, smiling. "Even someone with a super-effective move couldn't beat him." Nick stopped and sighed sadly.

After that they sat in relative silence, only speaking when something on screen happened that needed to be explained. Maya listened half-heartedly, but most of her attention was on the battle rather than what anyone was saying. She was a little awed that the boy, and he was just a boy, was taking on someone who looked to be in their early twenties with ease.

 _I'm beginning to see why so many people idolize him,_ she thought, jumping when Red's Scyther used Slash on a Gloom.

After the battle had ended a news anchor appeared on screen and smiled at them. A few clips from the battle were still playing in the background, though there weren't any sounds.

"I hope everybody enjoyed that battle, because I know I did," the anchor said jovially. "What a spectacle, right Chad?"

"That's right Mary," her co-anchor said. "Hard to believe those were just to help some Lapras, huh?"

"Oh, I don't know Chad. Something tells me he did a lot more than just exhibition battles," Mary said, grinning mischievously.

"Oh, like what?" Chad asked an excited gleam in his eyes. The excitement, at least to Maya, was contagious.

"Like an exclusive interview done in this very studio, the anniversary of which happens to be today." Mary grinned, an excited light in her eyes. The others in the room cheered. "In fact, I've been told that we'll be showing this interview to our dear viewers." They cheered louder. "We'll be right back with the interview after this commercial break." The others booed.

As soon as the ads started playing Nick sighed, stood up and stretched. "Not to be spoil the mood, but I think I need to train."

"What? Come on guy, you can't miss an interview with Red in it for _training_!" one of the other patrons asked. He looked like a fisherman.

"If it's about Red I've probably seen it," Nick said easily. "And from what I've just seen, I'll need to train if I want to stand a chance against him."

With that he turned and headed for the counter, all without once noticing her. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and wondered why she had been so nervous about him seeing her.

She waited until he'd left the Center before heading to the Nurse to check on her own Pokémon.

"Your Pokémon are exhausted," the Nurse scolded lightly. "What have you been doing to them?"

"Well, I was trying to get through Union Cave," she stated. "But it seems I've underestimated the Pokémon that live there."

"Clearly. Well, it'll take a while to get through, especially with your team. I'd recommend catching a Water-type."

"That's the idea," Maya stated. "Know where I can get one?"

The Nurse pointed to the group of patrons still clustered around the TV. "There should be a fisherman over there. He told me to point anyone who wanted a fishing rod in his direction."

Maya nodded and thanked the Nurse, turning and heading back to the group. Quickly spotting the fisherman the Nurse had mentioned she made her way over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me sir," she asked when he turned his head, "but I heard from the Nurse that you had a fishing rod for sale. May I buy it?"

The fisherman grinned and took off the fishing rod on his back. "It's not for sale, it's something I'm, giving away. I've been looking to get rid of this for a while now. I've been wondering when somebody would ask for it."

Taking the rod and strapping it to her back Maya grinned. "Thank you."

"Hey, are you handing that girl a fishing rod without any Lure Balls?" someone else asked.

"I haven't got any," the fisherman explained shyly.

"I do," the other patron countered. "So kid, do you want the Lure Balls? They're great for catching Pokémon you fish up."

"Why are you always trying to upstage me?" the fisherman asked.

"Because you always make it so easy," the other patron answered, handing Maya the Lure Balls.

Maya thanked him and pocketed the items, thanking the fisherman and the other patron for their help. Leaving the Pokémon Center she breathed deeply and released Zigzag.

"Zigzag, it's time to go fishing!" she declared.

He pumped his arms in the air and cheered, and they ran towards the bridge the Nurse had mentioned. If they hurried, maybe they could still make some progress through Union Cave.

 **(*)**

"RUN AWAY!" Nick shouted, Andy in his arms as they ducked around rocks and boulders.

Entering the cave had been the easy part. Amy had easily taken down whatever Rock or Ground-types got in their way. The Onix had been the only ones to stand up to her Razor Leaf, but even they fell after another barrage. Any Zubat were quickly dealt with by either Ellie or Andy, who seemed overjoyed to be battling the Flying-types.

The problems had started when Nick got overconfident. First a Sandshrew had used Poison Sting on Amy, taking her out not long after, and then Ellie had been confused by a Zubat. They'd needed rest and Nick had recalled them, but Andy and Jerry didn't have what it took to take them any further.

Now they were resting near a small lake in an attempt to regain some of their strength. Nick reached over and scooped up some water, splashing it against his face to wake himself up. Andy yawned and slumped to the side, jerking up when he almost fell over. Jerry shifted closer and the pink Pokémon gratefully leaned against him.

"This brings back memories," he said wistfully. "I used to run from Pokémon I annoyed all the time, though I've only run towards their territories…two or three times before."

Andy giggled at that and Jerry rolled his eyes. The Flying-type seemed deep in thought and more than a little irritated.

"What's up?" Nick asked. "Is it because most of the Pokémon here make it difficult for you to train?"

Andy nodded and Jerry threw a half-hearted glare his way.

"Don't let it bother you," Nick advised. "We ran in here without a plan or a strategy. I say we make one."

Andy nodded and rested against Jerry. Within a few minutes he seemed asleep, so Nick recalled him.

"So Jerry," he asked, "can you tell what I'm planning?"

Jerry tilted his head, though Nick couldn't tell if it was out of curiosity or just because he tilted his head often.

"Remember the Beedrill?" Nick asked. "We'll do the same thing here. It might be a little harder, what with all the extra Pokémon, but you're perfect for this job. What do you say?"

Jerry smiled and nodded. Nick stood up and shouldered his bag.

"Let's do our best to hurry through," he said, and they set off.

Nick couldn't see well in the cave, but Jerry could. As long as he kept the Hoothoot in sight there would be no problems. At least he hoped so.

 **(*)**

Maya lay back and smiled, the sound of Eva and Sasha training filling the air. At first she'd thought to have them stay in their Pokéballs the entire time, but decided they could train after the first hour of nothing happening. Despite having been there for hours all they'd done was find Magikarp, which was hardly the kind of Pokémon she needed for the task at hand. Well, technically it was, but a tomato was also technically a fruit, so…

She felt a tug on the line and yawned, standing up and tightening her grip. "Zigzag," she called, the Pikachu standing to attention next to her.

Feeling a stronger tug she yanked the line in to see another Magikarp. Sighing, she shoved it back into the water and threw her line out again. Even as she did so she wondered if it was worth it, since it was getting dark and she hadn't seen anything worth catching yet.

"Excuse me Miss?"

She frowned and looked towards her right to see a man in a red suit holding a box.

 _What's a deliveryman doing here? I didn't order anything._ "Yes, what is it?"

"I have a delivery from your father. He told me to inform you that he was waiting for you in Azalea Town, but since you seemed unable to pass Union Cave with a Pikachu he bought you a Pokémon he believes will aid you."

The deliveryman froze at the look she shot him and Maya breathed deeply to calm herself.

"Is there anything else?" she asked slowly, her irritation rising.

"Um, just a Thunder Stone, two Water Stones, and, uh, a Fire Stone, in case you ever find you need them. And a TM for a Water-type move," he answered, handing her the box.

"I see," she said, graciously excepting the box. "Thank you, I can handle things from here."

He nodded and hurried away towards the Center, leaving her alone with the box and her Pokémon. Turning her attention back to the water she glared.

"Zigzag," she asked, not taking her eyes of the water, "would you mind checking the box out? You can avoid the Thunder Stone if you want."

She heard him agree before he tore the tape off the box. She waited as he rifled through the box, her gaze focusing on a Tentacool floating _very_ close to her lure. She watched, shoulders tense as the Tentacool noticed her lure and swam in the other direction as fast as it could.

She groaned and turned to Zigzag. "Well," she asked, "what did you find?"

Zigzag didn't answer, instead handing her a letter and a Pokéball. Maya set her fishing rod aside and took a deep breath before reading it.

 _My Dearest Daughter,_

 _I can hardly believe how long it's been since you've been gone. To me and your mother it feels like so much longer. We had some time to come visit you in Azalea Town, but we had no idea you'd be so late. Do not be distressed, as we have found the perfect solution to your problem. While we will be unable to stay in Azalea for much longer we do hope to see you again soon._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Your Mother and Father_

Maya read though the letter again before taking a deep breathe. Honestly, her parents meant well, but without her input most of their help tended to make things worse or annoy her. After a few minutes she decided she was calm enough to meet her new teammate. Throwing the Pokéball to her side she waited for the Pokémon to form.

"Eevee!"

She groaned and put her head in her hands. A rare Pokémon, one which many people got into debt for, and her parents had just bought it for her. That was _totally_ something a normal Trainer could do.

"They could have gotten me a Poliwag instead, but _no_ , it had to be something to make me stick out like a sore thumb," she whined. Looking to her left she asked, "Of course, they wouldn't see that as a problem, would they?"

"Wooper," the Pokémon agreed, nodding sadly.

Maya sighed and took hold of the fishing rod again. After a minute however she froze as she realized what had happened, whipping her head around to find the Pokémon who'd agreed with her. It had already wandered off and seemed to be approaching the end of the bridge.

"GET BACK HERE!" she shouted, jumping up and running after it.

A few hours later they sat in the Pokémon Center, rewatching old footage of Pokémon League battles. Maya ran her fingers through her wet hair and grinned, her mind racing with the possibilities of how she could use Wooper (dubbed Nina) to get through the Union Cave. At least she knew for sure that it had a Water-type move.

The battle playing on screen was a little hard to follow though, since they seemed to be switching between using overwhelming power and falling back on strategies and plans. Maya frowned as Lorelei's Lapras used Psychic, sending her opponent flying.

 _Or maybe,_ she realized, _they're not changing styles at all. Maybe they're really using both at once._

The front door opened but Maya was too focused on the battle to care.

 _If they are using both at once do the strategies they're using need that overwhelming power? Is the power a side-effect of how experienced their Pokémon are? What if-?_

At that moment someone tapped Maya's shoulder and she started, turning to face whoever it was. Standing there was the Trainer in a blue jumpsuit

"Hi, I couldn't help but notice that you were watching an Elite Four Battle. Are you a Trainer?"

"Last time I checked," Maya replied sarcastically.

The other Trainer grinned and declared, "Then let's battle!"

Maya grinned and stood up. As soon as they walked out of the door however she realized something and winced. "Just, let me get my Pokémon."

 **(*)**

Nick ducked around the Sandshrew, making sure that it was asleep before nodding to Jerry.

"Good job Jerry," he said, his voice tinged with a slight growl. "The rest of the way should be a piece of cake."

Jerry tilted his head at him and Nick rolled his eyes.

"You wouldn't get the reference," he muttered. "Let's go."

Jerry shrugged and flew ahead, Nick following close by. They'd been walking for a few hours now and most of the team had had a chance to rest, but Nick felt better sneaking through. If they had to face a Pokémon then one of the others could take over, but for now Jerry was ideal.

As they walked Nick could have sworn he heard something sliding behind them and he sighed. He'd been hearing the sound for a while now, but since he couldn't see anything and nothing had attacked them he'd chosen to keep quiet.

After a while they sped up slightly, noticing how the cave seemed to be brightening around them. They turned a corner and there, only a few meters away, was the exit to the cave.

"Good job Jerry," Nick said, changing his voice again. "You should take a break. I can handle the situation from here."

Jerry shrugged at his Trainers antics as Nick pulled out his Pokéball. As soon as he did so however Jerry's eyes widened and he flew behind Nick. Before he could turn to see what was going on he heard a crunch and felt pain explode across his ribs.

 _Not my pain,_ he realized, wincing as his chest pulled. Turning around fully he saw Jerry struggling to stand, a rock at his feet, as he squared off against a Geodude. As soon as the Geodude noticed he was watching it seemed to glow, its skin shining a little in the dim light.

"Jerry, think you can handle this?" he asked uncertainly. Before Jerry could answer the Geodude dug its hand into the ground and pulled out a rock, hurling it at the stunned Flying-type. Jerry tried to dodge but was hit anyway, Nick biting back a scream as Jerry fainted.

"That's a no," Nick answered himself, recalling Jerry. The pain already fading he grabbed Amy's Pokéball and glared at the Geodude. "I didn't want to have to do this, but– Oh who am I kidding, I've wanted to do this for a while."

With that he sent Amy out, the Geodude glowing faintly again. Nick noticed how its skin seemed smoother than when he'd first spotted it and wondered what that meant. Meanwhile Amy focused on Geodude and began twirling her leaf, ready for the command she knew was coming.

"Razor Leaf," Nick ordered.

Amy casually sent the attack flying, an easy win all but assured, but then the Geodude glowed again and rolled as fast as it could out of the way. To Nicks surprise it managed to avoid the worst of the attack, standing back up and flexing its muscles for good measure.

"Did- did that Geodude just taunt us?" Nick asked, confused. "Whatever. Amy, Razor Leaf!"

Amy sent another attack its way, but the Geodude glowed again and rolled back, the motions faster than they'd been before. Nick wondered at that before deciding to ignore it for now.

"Amy, try a Tackle," he tried, watching the Geodude curiously.

Amy ran at Geodude and, as soon as she was close enough, it dug its hand into the ground and ripped a rock out, hurling it at the Chikorita. Nick groaned and held his cheek as Amy was hit, but there could be no doubt that the Geodude was moving faster than before.

 _Was it that weird glow?_ Nick wondered. Noticing that Amy was still in roughly the same place he ordered, "Razor Leaf!"

Amy hesitated for a second, but quickly sent the attack forward at closer range. Geodude's eyes widened but it was too close to dodge as it had before and took the full brunt of the attack, falling forward as it fainted.

"Good job Amy," Nick congratulated, raising her Pokéball. "Want to get some rest?"

Amy shook her head and moved to stand beside her Trainer.

"Didn't think so," Nick said, attaching her ball to his belt. As they turned to leave they heard something and looked back to see the Geodude struggling to get back up. Even as they watched it stood up and stuck its hand into the ground again.

"Time to go Amy," he warned just as the Geodude sent the rock flying. Amy ducked around the attack and Tackled the Geodude, but it held onto her and refused to let go.

"Oh for the love of…" Nick muttered, recalling Amy. Looking at the Geodude he noted how, despite taking a Razor Leaf from Amy, it seemed ready to fight again, but wasn't making a move towards him. "What's up?"

The Geodude didn't answer, flexing its arms again and roaring at him. Nick frowned, confused, and tried to puzzle the situation out.

 _It beats Jerry, won't give up to Amy, but doesn't try to hit me? I swear it's like its showing off to me._ Nick frowned and shook his head, taking an empty Pokéball from his pocket. When the Geodude tensed and raised its arms he said, "Don't worry, none of my Pokémon are in here."

The Geodude relaxed, but kept its eyes trained on the ball. Nick flung the ball forward and, within a few seconds, had captured the Geodude.

"Though I guess one of them is in here now," he mused, turning and heading for the exit. "I wonder if it'll let me train it?"

 **(*)**

Nick didn't respond to the other Trainers at the Pokémart glancing at him. That could have been because of the Cleffa sitting on his shoulders, but Nick found it easier to focus on the cashier's story.

"Let me get this straight: a Trainer walks into your town with a Zubat and a Quilava, learns that Team Rocket is around, beats them, and then beats your Gym Leader and just _leaves_?" Nick asked incredulously.

"That's the gist of it," the cashier confirmed. "That was a few days ago of course."

"Of course," Nick agreed. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any information on the local Gym Leader would you?"

"He uses Bug-types," the cashier stated. "But I don't know much more than that."

"It's alright," Nick assured him. "Not like there aren't a lot of Bug-types around."

Paying for his things Nick thanked the cashier again and headed back to the Pokémon Center. He was already making plans for the next day when he walked into his room and saw his team crowded around Geodude.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked, taking in the scene before him as Andy jumped off his shoulder. Geodude and Amy were pushing against each other, though Amy seemed to be losing the test of strength judging by how much more relaxed Geodude was.

"So does this mean you're okay with being my Pokémon?" he asked. Geodude took a moment to nod and Amy tried to take advantage of the distraction, only to be easily pushed back to where she was before.

"Great," Nick said, sitting down on the bed and taking his shoes off. Geodude pushed against Amy one last time and apparently won, judging by Amy's frustration and Andy cheerily patting it on the back.

"So, the Nurse says you're a girl?" Nick asked. Geodude nodded and he grinned. "Well, I'm calling you Jane," he decided.

Geodude simply nodded again and flexed her muscles. Andy stared at her and followed suit, Nick giggling at the sight of the adorable pink Pokémon starting an impromptu flexing contest between himself and the obviously stronger Rock-type. Jerry quirked an eyebrow at the sight and headed for the bed to rest.

A few minutes later, after declaring Jane the victor, they were ready to go to sleep. However, even as the light went off, Nick's was thinking of how to handle the next Gym Leader.

 _There is no way I can rely on Amy on this one,_ he thought, staring up at the ceiling. _Now Jerry, on the other hand…_

 **(*)**

And that is the next chapter! Next time we'll have a short training sequence, followed by a Gym battle, and maybe part of as trip through Ilex Forest. As mentioned in another story I've been told that the best course of action is to ask for feedback so, uh, please give feedback, I guess?

Also, before anyone asks, that was a reference to Ethan. I'm basing his team off of PurpleRodri's playthrough of Pokémon HeartGold, though I guess his reserve Pokémon are up to either interpretation or suggestion.


	11. Chapter 11

Welcome back. I do not own the Pokémon series.

Chikorita- Amy

Hoothoot- Jerry

Mareep- Ellie

Cleffa- Andy

Geodude- Jane

Human- Nick

 **(*)**

Amy darted forward to attack Jane, but swerved away when Ellie got between them. She swung her leaf forward and hit Ellie with Razor Leaf as Jane ducked around her partner to use Rock Throw. Surprised, Amy took the hit and slid backwards as Jerry flew overhead and tried to use Hypnosis. Noticing this, Ellie and Jane dodged the attack, Ellie firing a ThunderShock at Jerry that made him spasm and lose altitude.

"So, are we going to rest anytime soon?" Jane asked sarcastically, her voice soft and gravelly.

At her question they all collapsed, Jane's own arms dropping to her sides. Amy still stood, but that was less because she had energy the energy to and more because she was afraid she wouldn't get up again if she let herself rest. Rather than focus on the urge to rest she turned her head to look at the woods.

"So…when do you think they'll be back?" she asked, wheezing.

"Probably when Nick is done training Andy," Jerry answered once he caught his breath. "His moves are getting weird."

"Says the Flying-type with Hypnosis," Jane countered.

Jerry frowned and Ellie giggled and noted, "Ah, she's got you there."

They were quiet for a few more minutes before Jane announced, "Alright I'm done." Turning to Amy she brought her arms forward. "You ready to get back to training yet?"

"I've just about caught my breath," Amy answered as she started to twirl her leaf.

 **(*)**

Andy used Sing, quickly putting one of the Weedle to sleep. The other one fired a String Shot, either to shut him up or slow him down, and Andy dodged before using Copycat and binding Weedle to part of a bush.

"Not many real attacks, but you're still a little terror," Nick praised. "We should head back soon though."

Andy nodded and Nick recalled him, casually walking over and letting the Weedle loose. It wasted no time in hurrying to its friend sand scurrying away with it. Nick sighed and headed back to the training field, wondering whether or not he was specific in what he wanted. When he arrived he found his team on lying around and panting. Frowning he checked his Pokégear and grimaced.

"I guess I kept you waiting, huh?" he asked shyly. "I'm sorry, we lost track of time."

They all groaned except Amy who reached over and slapped Jane with her leaf. The Geodude growled back and tried to smack the leaf away, but Amy pulled back and snickered before she could. Nick sighed at their antics and reminded himself to spend more time with Jane later. He recalled them but before he could recall Amy her leaf stood straight up and glowed. As he watched she used Synthesis to heal herself, though it stopped before she was fully recovered.

"You couldn't do this earlier?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

Amy shrugged but didn't reply, gingerly standing up and stretching her body. As soon as she decided she was fine she used Synthesis again to eliminate any remaining aches and pains. He waited until she had finished healing before picking her up and looking her over.

"Nifty trick," he noted, finding no signs of injury. "Still, it's not something we should over rely on."

Amy nodded and he recalled her, mentally going through what he'd seen Andy do. After a quick checkup (and a lunch break that lasted all of 5 minutes) Nick and Jane were out in Azalea on their daily info search. They'd been in town for almost a week now and, while it hadn't exactly been smooth sailing, Nick felt as if their walks helped him form some sort of bond with the Geodude on top of learning what he could about the Gyms. He still couldn't quite figure her out, but she didn't feel nearly as detached and cold when his ability acted up as she typically acted.

"So, do you think you'll be able handle Bugsy tomorrow?" he asked casually, carefully observing her reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Jane nodded and kept walking beside him, barely responding to his question. Nick sighed and almost fell over when he bumped into a Slowpoke. The Water-types were all over the place and from what he could tell less than half of them actually had Trainers. He'd actually considered catching one, and seeing as it was a choice between getting a Slowpoke and being without a Water-type he was still weighing his options.

He sat down as Jane began Tackling a rock and mentally ran through what they knew. The Gym Leader, Bugsy, used Bug-types, which wasn't all that surprising, and he'd use certain Pokémon depending on how many badges his challengers had, but beyond that they barely knew anything about him. A crack echoed and Nick glanced sharply at the rock Jane had been practicing on, now split in two. For her part she seemed proud of her work and was smiling at him, which surprised him a little.

"Wow, you really are strong. Quick, use your Rock Throw," Nick said. Jane nodded and picked up the two halves of the rock before tossing them as hard as she could. Nick heard something yelp and quickly recalled Jane before lying back on the grass and doing his best to look innocent.

"Excuse me?" someone asked. He looked up to see a boy with an angry looking Slowpoke beside him. "Were you the one who threw that rock at Slowpoke?"

"Nope. I've never seen that rock before in my life." He winced as he realized what he'd said. "I mean, uh, I-"

The other boy fumed and declared, "I challenge you to a battle!"

The Slowpoke beside him moved in front of him and Nick stood up and stepped back, pulling out Ellie's Pokéball. He figured she would make quick work of the Water-type and sent her out before remembering her recent problem. He winced as the other Trainer took one look at Ellie and burst out laughing, his Slowpoke seeming confused.

"What's wrong with that Mareep?" he asked, struggling to contain his laughter.

Ellie huffed and fluffed herself up, her cheeks turning pinker. It was still fairly recent, but while they'd been training she'd started losing wool, the empty patches replaced by bright pink skin that stood out further against her still blue head. She hadn't enjoyed the sudden hair loss, but the Nurse at the Pokémon Center assured them she was fine.

"It's a medical condition," Nick defended. He honestly didn't know if it was, but it sounded better than saying he had no idea what was going on.

The other Trainer started another round of laughter, the Slowpoke finally catching on and smiling. In response Ellie ran forward and Tackled Slowpoke, knocking it over and cutting the other Trainer's laughter short.

"Slowpoke!" he exclaimed. Glaring at Ellie he commanded, "Use your Water Gun!"

Slowpoke opened its mouth and blasted Ellie with water, forcing her back slightly. To its surprise she merely smirked and shook herself, her wool crackling with electricity. Nick ran a hand through his hair and smirked, the slight sting from the attack offset by the cool water soaking through Ellie's wool.

"Let me explain what my Mareep is thinking," he said as Ellie dodged another Water Gun. "'He's not as strong as Amy, and his attacks are weaker, but at least this won't last long.' Now Ellie, use ThunderShock!"

Ellie immediately let loose long tendrils of electricity that struck Slowpoke before it could dodge, shocking it and locking it in place. When the attack ended it swayed, its eyes dim and unfocused, and Ellie wasted no time in darting forward and finishing it off with a Tackle.

"You're a lot stronger than I thought you'd be," the other Trainer admitted as he recalled his Pokémon. "So, you were just guessing what your Mareep was thinking right? You didn't really know?"

Nick nodded and Ellie smiled proudly. As she did so however she began glowing and Nick stared as she went from rest standing on all fours to standing on her back legs. When the light faded it revealed not a Mareep, but a Flaaffy, who seemed quite confused. She tried to walk forward but stumbled, forcing Nick to catch her before she fell.

"Hey, congratulations," the other Trainer said as he left. "Good luck with your new Pokémon."

Nick nodded absentmindedly before righting Ellie and helping her keep steady. She thanked him and shivered, looking down and noticing her new lack of wool with a huff.

"I wouldn't try walking just yet," someone said. They looked to their side and saw a young boy watching them from a tree. Smirking, he jumped down and fell, drawing a wince from Ellie. He stood up quickly and smirked again, but whatever air of mystery he'd carried was gone. "Walking will be a chore until you get used to standing on two legs. Anyway, are you here to challenge the Gym?"

Nick nodded as Ellie shifted just enough to face the boy. She stumbled a bit but Nick helped her along.

"Well, if you want I could review your team," the boy offered casually. "I do happen to know the Gym Leader fairly well."

"Really?" Nick asked, intrigued by the offer. "That would be great, thanks."

The other boy nodded and Nick sent out his team, Jane shooting him a glare when she was sent out. Thankfully they were all soon distracted by Ellie, who accepted their attention with nervous laughter. Andy seemed especially happy and stood next to Ellie as Jerry compared their different shades of pink. Amy smirked and began twirling her leaf at the sight of her evolved friend.

"I see that you have two Pokémon ideal for the Azalea Gym," the boy mused after a few minutes. Amy glanced at him but didn't pay him much attention. "If you want my advice you shouldn't lead with your best battler. Start with something that sets up a chance for the others, you know?"

Nick nodded and recalled his team, his hand lingering on Ellie's Pokéball. They'd have to wait a few more days, but it would be worth if he could help Ellie adjust to her new body.

"Thank you for all the help," Nick said with a smile. "If you don't mind my asking, what's with all the green?"

The boy glanced down at his green shorts and shirt and shrugged. "It's easier to blend into the forest, at least with this shade. Blending in is an absolute necessity for catching Bug-types."

"Sure, I guess. Though with hair like that I'd recommend a good hat," Nick suggested.

"A valid point," the other boy admitted with a smile. He turned to leave and as he did he called back, "Of course, now I'll have to tell the Gym Leader to keep an eye out for you."

"We're looking forward to it," he responded before heading to the Pokémon Center. The training ground there would perfect for the next few days.

 **(*)**

Ellie fell, moving her foot forward as she did so and catching herself. She looked up at Nick and he nodded.

"That's good. The Nurse says everything's in shape, so the only real challenge is getting used to walking this way," he told her. "But since your legs aren't exactly shaped like mine I've got someone else who can teach you."

With that Andy stepped out from behind Nick and waved at her. She waved back and smiled.

"Andy, you know what to do. I've got to go make sure the other three don't hurt each other too bad, Jane doesn't seem to be holding back."

Nick headed off and Ellie looked to her teammate, now much smaller than she remembered. "So, what do we do now?"

"We will walk across this battlefield!" Andy declared before turning and doing just that.

"And what are we doing after that?" Ellie asked, struggling to keep up with him. Walking with only two legs felt much more unstable, but mimicking Andy's movements helped her along.

"Then we will run across this field!" he said.

Finally they reached the end of the field and she tried to turn but almost fell over as she did. Andy looked at her and seemed to be considering something.

"First we practice walking and turning some more," he decided. "Then we can start running. Maybe."

They kept at it for a few more hours and Ellie slowly but surely became used to her new body. She wasn't quite used to it just yet, but they had made a lot more progress than she'd expected. As they walked across the field she noticed how Andy was looking towards Amy and asked him what was wrong.

"No, it's just…" Andy gestured vaguely to where the others were training. "Don't you think Amy is starting to look weird?"

She thought about it. "Maybe. We'd need an experienced Trainer to tell."

Andy nodded and they continued with their walking exercise. Growing impatient Ellie tilted forward and slipped into a jog, unintentionally moving past Andy. Surprised, he increased his own speed and Ellie noticed how much effort he was putting into keeping up with her. She kept jogging but quickly tripped and stood as Andy caught up.

"What was that?" Andy said, smiling.

"I thought I could copy Nick," she explained.

Andy nodded thoughtfully. "Now we run!" he declared before breaking into a sprint.

Ellie nodded and tried to run after Andy but stumbled and fell over again. Raising her head she saw Andy coming back to her and quickly stood up.

"What happened? Couldn't keep your balance?" he asked. She nodded and he sighed. "We'll practice running tomorrow." He frowned and pulled a piece of grass off her wool.

They kept up the walking exercises until Nick came to tell them it was dinner time. While Andy hurried ahead Nick walked beside Ellie and helped her when she tripped or stumbled, which happened a fair few times. When they got to the stairs Ellie felt worried, but with Nick acting as support she made it up without any trouble.

That set the tone for the next few days, Ellie trying and failing to speed up the adjustment to her new body. After the second day of having to watch her fall over-and explaining to the others that no, he wasn't punishing her for anything-Nick started regulating what she did, ensuring she wouldn't try to hurry the process along. It was slow going, especially when they started practicing attacks, but it was well worth it a few days later when she had her practice battle with Amy.

"Use ThunderShock!" Nick commanded.

She fired the attack as fast as she could and Amy dodged it before sending a Razor Leaf her way. She shifted out of the way and fired another ThunderShock that Amy dodged. Their training over the past few days had helped her adjust and she moved almost as smoothly as she had before.

"Ellie Thunder Wave!"

She nodded and fired off what looked like a weaker ThunderShock. Amy tried to dodge but the attack caught her and she slowed down significantly, sparks dancing across her skin. Ellie took a chance and ran forward Tackling Amy and sending her sliding back. Amy tried to Tackle her in return but her body froze and she glared, unable to move.

"Stop," Nick ordered and Ellie stepped back. Nick walked to Amy and gave her a Paralyze Heal before sending the rest of the team out. He addressed them all as he said, "We're going to rest for the morning. We'll go after the Gym Leader this afternoon."

 **(*)**

Amy leapt off the platform and took a moment to regain her balance before looking back at Nick, watching as he stepped off the Spinarak shaped platform and crumpled to his knees. Nick gripped the grass and stayed there for a few minutes before he calmed enough to decide that it was okay to stand up, doing so shakily and looking around for the Gym Leader. Finding no one there he groaned and took the chance looked around, taking note of the bushes at the edge of the field and the large tree that stood to the side. Ace had always said it was always a good idea to note the environment.

"Welcome challenger!" someone called out. Nick looked across the field but saw nobody. "Give me a minute."

Nick waited for the speaker to appear and watched as a figure dropped out of the tree. Whoever it was didn't seem that tall, roughly his height, and looked oddly familiar though he couldn't tell from under the tree. He blinked when he saw the boy from the other day step out of the shadow of the tree and grin at him as if he'd been waiting.

"That's better," the boy sighed, ignoring Nick's shocked expression. "It's really hard keeping your balance on those upper branches, you know?"

"Yeah, the upper branches aren't always developed enough to- Wait no, what's going on?" he asked, trying to get his bearings.

The boy smiled and asked, "What do you mean?"

"A few days ago you offered to assess my team for our Gym battle and today I find you where I'm meant to meet the…" Nick's little rant trailed off as he realized who he was speaking to and he facepalmed. "I walked right into that one."

"Yep," the Gym Leader agreed. "Bugsy's the name, and I'm the Gym Leader of Azalea Town."

Amy tensed and moved in front of Nick. "Why did I meet you a few days ago?" he asked while fiddling with the rubber band on his wrist.

Bugsy shrugged. "I was out catching Bug Pokémon. Well, trying to anyway. What, did you think Gym Leaders just sat around waiting for challengers? There's a time sheet in the foyer."

"There wasn't a time sheet, just a list of people you've lost to," Nick told him.

"Of course there wasn't," Bugsy groaned, pulling a Pokéball from his belt. "Putting that aside, would you care to earn your…" Bugsy squinted at him. "I'm sorry I forgot how many badges you had."

"One. I have one badge."

Bugsy blushed before putting the Pokéball back on his belt and pulling out a different one. "Right, sorry, wrong Pokémon." He triumphantly pulled out another Pokéball. "There! Second badge!"

The Scyther that appeared on the field made both Nick and Amy pause as it roared and, when it caught sight of them, brandished its bladed forelimbs in challenge.

"I feel like I should reassure you that yes, you have a fairly good chance of beating her. Well, if you've been training that is," Bugsy assured him.

"We have and we will, thank you," Nick said, brow furrowing as he tried to calm himself.

Scyther was glaring at them with such intensity that Amy instinctively took a step back before gritting her teeth and stepping forward, a challenge to the Bug-type. Nick's eyes were drawn to something odd about Scyther and he noticed a berry dangling around her neck.

"Scyther use U-Turn!" Bugsy commanded.

"Amy use Poison Powder!" Nick commanded, panic flaring in his chest. Whatever that berry was it couldn't be good for them.

Scyther blitzed across the field and sent Amy flying before she could release the powder. She hit the ground and didn't get up, the sudden flash of pain and disconnect from his Pokémon stopping Nick cold. He stumbled and quickly snapped the band on his wrist, the sudden shock helping him focus. It wasn't the ideal method but he doubted anyone minded. He quickly recalled Amy and to his surprise Scyther was quickly returned to her own Pokéball.

 _Isn't he unable to substitute Pokémon?_ Nick wondered.

"So, was that you following my advice?" Bugsy asked, tossing a Pokéball up and down.

"Kind of," he admitted as he flourished Jerry's Pokéball. "But I'm starting to get a read on you."

Bugsy grinned and sent out a Metapod which did its best to look threatening. Nick sent out Jerry in response, but he was warier now and Jerry picked up on his unease, switching from foot to foot and looking for what was making Nick nervous. He'd dismissed Metapod immediately and it seemed angry at being ignored.

"Jerry, take out the Metapod fast. Uproar!"

Jerry turned back and gave him a look before sighing and opening his mouth, shrieking the attack into the Metapod's cocoon. The move was relatively new, but every member of his team had learned new tricks in the past few days and Ellie's need to relearn walking had given them even more time to train. There wasn't much Metapod could do to escape the attack so it fired a String Shot to slow Jerry down. In response Jerry jumped up, flew in closer and used Uproar, making it shake in pain.

"Metapod use Tackle!" Bugsy commanded. Metapod lunged forward but Jerry quickly used Peck, knocking it back and sending it sprawling.

"Uproar!" Nick commanded, snapping the band to avoid being caught up in by Jerry's excitement.

Jerry shrieked again and the Metapod stopped moving altogether as it fainted. Grinning, he flew back to Nick, but they didn't have a chance to celebrate as Scyther was sent out again, an icy glare on its face as it raised its blades. Jerry looked back at Nick and, noticing the alarm in his eyes, tensed and fluffed itself up.

"I'm figuring you out" Nick said, his unease returning. "Jerry Hypnosis!"

Bugsy grinned. "Scyther use Quick Attack!"

Scyther shot forward, faster than they could track and slammed into Jerry, knocking him back. Nick winced as pain shot through him, but Bugsy had made a mistake in underestimating Jerry. The Hoothoot's head snapped forward and his Hypnosis skimmed past Scyther, surprising it and making it jump back.

"Jerry, forget getting it to sleep. Use Uproar," Nick said, ignoring the pain in his chest.

The Hoothoot nodded and took to the air before shrieking at Scyther and forcing it to the floor. Bugsy shouted something that Nick couldn't hear, but he got the message when Scyther seemed to disappear from the field. He yelped when he felt the disconnect, looking up to see the Jerry falling to the floor, Scyther grinning as she landed.

Nick groaned and recalled Jerry. "Thanks buddy," he told the Pokéball. "You and Amy have already won this for us."

He placed the Pokéball in his belt but didn't take a new one out. Scyther glared and knocked its bladed arms together but Nick grinned. He'd just remembered what Scyther's secondary type was.

"Ellie, battle stance!"

The Flaaffy gave a battle cry as she appeared on the field. She swayed in place and Nick saw Scyther's eyes light up.

"Ellie be careful, she's fast," Nick warned the Electric-type. She nodded without turning to him, but he could feel enough to know she'd heard him.

Scyther darted forward, but its hastiness gave Ellie the chance she needed and she fired a ThunderShock. Scyther, unable to dodge, took the attack and shrieked, causing Bugsy to start looking worried. The look was gone almost immediately, but it confirmed Scyther's weaknesses.

"Scyther U-Turn!" Bugsy commanded.

Nick tried to tell Ellie to dodge but before he could Scyther had slammed into the Flaaffy and bounced back before returning to her Pokéball. Ellie fell and passed out, the suddenness of the disconnection surprising Nick. He snapped the rubber band and recalled Ellie before staring thoughtfully at Bugsy.

The Gym Leader hadn't worried since they started their battle, and with that Scyther around Nick could see why. He felt stupid for having given Bugsy a preview of his team, but there was no helping it now. If what he thought was true they'd deal with something easier before seeing Scyther again.

"Go, Kakuna!" Bugsy said, confirming his suspicions.

Kakuna didn't try to look intimidating like Metapod had, instead opting for a look of boredom, but the look in its eyes let Nick know exactly how alert it was.

"Andy, battle stance." It wasn't the best strategy, but Jane was their best bet for finishing Scyther, so she'd have to fight last. The Cleffa appeared on the field with a battle cry, startling Bugsy and shocking the Kakuna out of its facade.

Bugsy stared at Andy as if confused before shrugging. "If that's what you want. Kakuna, String Shot!"

Kakuna fired the attack and Andy ducked around it, but as soon as the attack struck the ground Kakuna used the string to yank itself closer. It repeated the action a few more times, Andy dodging each attack, and Nick blinked at the surprising use of the move.

"Andy, Pound!"

Andy waited for the Kakuna to come within striking distance before knocking it back with Pound. When Kakuna showed no response he growled and began using Pound over and over, trying to get a reaction out of the Bug-type.

"Poison Sting!" Bugsy commanded.

One of its arms suddenly glowed purple and it reached forward to jab at Andy. He winced and knocked it back, but by the purple smudge spreading across his stomach told Nick the attack had done what Bugsy needed it to.

"Andy wrap it up! Sing!" They had no time to waste on the Kakuna.

Andy nodded and sang a short tune that quickly put the Kakuna to sleep. As soon as it was out he hit it with repeated Pounds until it woke up long enough to faint. As soon as it did though Andy began to glow and Nick blinked in surprise as Andy evolved into a Clefairy. Looking down at himself the newly evolved Normal-type began throwing Pounds to get a feel for his new body.

"Hey, congratulations on your evolution," Bugsy praised, Andy beaming in response. "I wish I could let you celebrate, but we still have a battle to finish."

With that Bugsy sent out Scyther who glared at Andy as if daring him to step closer. Nick grinned when Andy's excitement filtered through and he took a step forward before gesturing Scyther closer. Though his back was to him Nick could almost see the grin the Clefairy wore.

"Your Pokémon doesn't realize what he's dealing with," Bugsy noted curiously.

"Actually, he knows exactly what he's dealing with," Nick said, shifting in place as Andy's excitement built.

Bugsy shrugged and quickly grew serious. "He still has a Geodude in reserve Scyther! Use Quick Attack!"

Scyther nodded and shot forward, but Andy stood firm and waited for Nicks order.

"Andy Copycat!" he commanded.

As soon as the words left his mouth Andy blurred to the side of the field, diving into the bushes to avoid Scyther. She stopped and looked around, wondering where her opponent had gotten to. Nick smirked when he noticed the sparks dancing across her scales, a parting gift from Ellie that would slow her down.

"Scyther he went into the bushes," Bugsy told his Pokémon.

"Andy use Sing!" Nick commanded. Even if he didn't win Andy could still take out one of the trump cards Bugsy had set up.

Andy began a soft, soothing tune that put Scyther to sleep despite her best efforts. As soon as she fell to the floor Andy jumped from the bushes and began using Pound on the sleeping Bug-type.

"Scyther wake up!" Bugsy called out in a panic.

A tense moment passed where Nick worried that Scyther would wake up before Andy could do enough damage. As soon as she stirred the Clefairy jumped back, stumbling slightly as Scyther's head snapped up and she growled in annoyance. As she got to her feet Scyther tore the berry from around its neck and ate it, her stamina restored even as she proved Nick's theory.

"Andy use Sweet Kiss!" Nick commanded.

Andy hopped up and kissed Scyther between her eyes, Confusing the Bug-type and making her eyes become dim and unfocused. She swung out with what seemed like a Quick Attack, but missed and fell down. Andy, startled by the sudden attack, took a wary step back and watched Scyther from a distance.

"Scyther Quick Attack!"

Scyther made as if to dash forward but instead spun in place, still Confused. Shaking her head she ran forward and ended up hitting the tree on the field. Nick winced as she hit the tree, but Andy apparently saw it as an opportunity and turned back to Nick while pointing excitedly at Scyther.

"Use Magical Leaf," Nick said, a grin forming on his face.

The Clefairy grinned and waved his arms, sending a wave of leaves at Scyther. It couldn't hit as many targets at once as Amy's Razor Leaf, but from what Nick could tell it more than made up for that by never missing its target. As the attack landed Scyther shook her head and turned to glare at Andy, her eyes sharp and focused again.

"Scyther Quick Attack!"

Scyther wasted no time, having finally learned not to underestimate the pink Normal-type. As soon as Scyther dashed forward however Andy did the same, their attacks meeting near the middle of the field. Scyther recoiled but Andy flew back, hitting the ground with a thud. Nick winced at the flash of pain and the disconnect, recalling Andy as Bugsy and Scyther watched him.

The Gym Leader looked more nervous than ever before and Nick grinned. If Jane could last long enough to get a Rock Throw in then Scyther was as good as finished and Bugsy knew it.

"Jane battle stance!" Nick waited for the Pokémon to form on the battlefield before he grinned cockily and pointed to Scyther. "So, how long do you think you'll last?"

"Don't underestimate Scyther! Even though she's my last Pokémon, Bug Pokémon are tough!" Bugsy clenched his fist and punched forward. "Scyther U-Turn!"

Scyther jumped, flying through the air to hit Jane. Before she could land on the Rock-type Nick ordered, "Rock Throw!"

Jane drove her arm into the ground next to her and yanked a rock loose, quickly hurling it at the surprised Bug-type. With no time to dodge Scyther took the hit and dropped to the ground struggling for breath. Bugsy looked on with concern, but Nick couldn't risk Scyther making a comeback.

"Rock Throw!" Nick ordered as determination pulsed through him. Surprised, he looked at Jane and noted that despite the feeling filtering through him she looked much the same as she always did.

Scyther moved faster than he'd expected, but Jane knew exactly where to aim and hurtled the rock at the Bug-type. Nick heard a crunch as Scyther tumbled end over end, her own momentum carrying her forward. When she came to a stop she didn't move and Bugsy sighed, quickly recalling her.

The Gym Leader sighed and ran his hand through his hair before pulling something out of his pocket. Walking to Nick he held it out and said, "Well, I guess I saw that coming. This is the Hive Badge, which I'm sure you'll show off to anyone who wants to listen, and many who don't."

"Thank you, and I will," Nick admitted as he took the badge. "I'll be honest I was asking around a lot, but all anybody would tell me was that you loved Bug-types."

Bugsy smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, a lot of towns can get defensive of their Gym Leaders. Still, I'll have my revenge soon."

"What does that mean?" Nick asked.

Bugsy's smile widened and he said, "You have to go back using the Swaying Spinarak, patent pending. And I've seen how you react to it."

Nick froze and stiffly turned to look at the platform. Turning back to Bugsy he said, "You know, a part of me really dislikes you right now."

Bugsy nodded. "I know."

Nick groaned and walked onto the platform, Andy climbing on behind him. As soon as it started moving he dropped to his knees and held the sides. He couldn't wait to get back to the Center.

 **(*)**

"That's great Nick!" his mom cheered. "You're up to two badges already!"

"Yep, we won." Nick smiled back and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd call Andy, but he's busy…celebrating."

"Celebrating how exactly?"

"Let's just say that a Clefairy eating ice-cream is hilarious, especially if he's got eating buddies." Nick smirked. "Oh, remember that Cleffa I told you about?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It evolved while I was battling Bugsy."

"Congratulations. They don't stay in baby forms for long after all," she told him. "So, which Gym do you think you'll be heading to next?"

"I'm thinking Goldenrod City. It could be fun." An awkward silence fell on their conversation until Nick asked the obvious question. "No offense mom, but what's with the hat?"

She took the hat off and held it in front of the camera. "Do you like it? I've been wearing it more often since Furret cut my hair."

"Because you cut his to make into a hat? The exact hat you now walk around in?" It was easy to hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes." She paused. "I should apologize about that."

"Probably, yes."

"We're just bickering a little more, don't worry about it. You didn't hear this from me, but I think he really misses you." His mom seemed to remember something and put the hat back on. "That reminds me Ace stopped by and asked where you were. He wanted to know if you were interested in running an errand for him."

"An errand? Like what?"

"He said something about a place opening near Goldenrod. Here, I'll give you the address."

Nick wrote down what she told him and nodded. "Okay mom, I've got to go make sure the others haven't celebrated themselves into a stupor. Tell Ace he needs to get out more for me."

"I already have Nick, I already have." With that she hung up and Nick sighed before heading to the cafeteria.

He was met with the sight of his Pokémon lying around and sleeping, the only one left standing being Andy himself. Even as Nick watched however the Clefairy gave up and flopped over, groaning unintelligibly.

"What did I say about restraint?" Nick asked. None of them answered and he sighed and recalled them. He looked at the table they'd been eating at and groaned at the mess.

Deciding that he could make use of their time napping (and avoid the janitor) Nick went looking for a computer he could use for research and was told by the Nurse to head for the library. Leaving Andy with her, he made his way to the library and, once he found what he needed, sat down and began searching. It had been a while since he'd looked up what certain species of Pokémon were good at and he thought it'd be a good idea to check again.

What he found was surprising, but gave him a lot to think about. Things like Jerry's surprising number of naturally learned Psychic-type moves (though honestly he hadn't expected more than one), Ellie's eventual progression to a special powerhouse, and the fact that, if he made Andy a Clefable, his moves would become near impossible to predict by anyone but him and a Ditto. Even Jane would become enormously powerful if he managed to evolve her into a Golem.

The biggest surprise though was Amy, whose final form seemed like it could work with defense or offense. The shocking part was that, if the computer could be trusted, her species was so rare in the wild that the vast majority of them were found in labs or special breeding Centers. Professor Elm might've handed him one of the most valuable Pokémon in the world.

He closed the tab he'd been reading and rubbed his eyes, looking out of the window. He started when someone tapped him on the shoulder and the librarian sternly told him it was closing time. Taking another look outside he noticed how dark it had gotten and thanked the librarian, leaving in a hurry. Not that the day hadn't been interesting, but he was more than ready for a good night's sleep.

 **(*)**

Amy ran forward and Tackled the Beedrill, but as soon as she did it jabbed at her with Poison Sting. Jane, noticing the problem her teammate faced, ripped a rock from the floor and sent the Beedrill flying. Andy and Jerry put some others to sleep and the remaining Beedrill, realizing exactly what would happen if they stuck around, grabbed their sleeping teammates before hurrying back to their nest.

Nick grinned and congratulated his team on their victory before they hurried along, moving further through the Ilex Forest. So far they'd made good progress and the multitude of Bug and Grass-types couldn't hope to compare to Jane and Jerry. Unfortunately that left them with an entirely different problem…

"Amy, soups on," Nick called. The lighting in the forest was dim, but luckily there was a beaten path that they'd been happy to follow.

Amy, who'd been nudging Ellie and seemed to be trying to be a nuisance, was shocked when Ellie stood and ran to Nick as fast as she could. Sighing, the Grass-type walked over and accepted her meal, shooting her teammate a look as she scarfed hers down. Amy seemed frustrated about something and Nick held up a handful of berries, trying to cheer her up.

"You would not believe how many of these are just lying around," he joked. Ellie looked up and casually plucked a berry from his hand before eating it. "Hey! Those are already in your food!"

Amy giggled at their antics and Nick smiled encouragingly. Something landed to his left and Nick sighed, wordlessly handing Jerry his bowl. As soon as he did he heard a something drop to his right and saw Jane putting Andy on the ground, the Clefairy looking thoroughly beaten.

"Do I even want to know?" Nick asked Jane.

She thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Figures." He handed Jane her food and gave Andy a Potion, waiting until the Normal-type drank it before handing him his meal. "As long as the other guy's hurt just as bad I don't mind."

Jane shrugged and Andy nodded vigorously before diving into his food. When they were all done eating Andy walked to Ellie and asked her something. She thought for a moment and nodded, the two of them heading a little ways off to train. While he wasn't an ideal sparring partner Andy's recent evolution and tricky moves meant he could keep up with Ellie.

Amy noticed them training and muttered something to Jerry and Jane. Soon everyone was training and Nick sat to the side flipping through his old Pokémon book. If ever there was a time for a refresher it was then. As he read through it he felt a little more at ease, the environment they were in relaxing him. Because he'd been 8 when he'd started it there was little to be learned from the book besides a few type combinations he'd forgotten and he sighed, putting it back into his bag to watch his Pokémon train.

Amy was looking a little better now that she was battling, although the same couldn't be said to the Pokémon she was wailing on. She hadn't had much of a chance to battle since they'd entered the forest and she had a lot of energy to burn.

Nick winced as Jerry took a nasty Tackle and tossed the Flying-type a berry. Jerry gave him a grateful look and ate the berry before diving back into the fray, firing Hypnosis at Amy which she easily dodged. Jane took the chance to hide behind a tree as Amy fired a Razor Leaf at her, avoiding the attack and giving her a chance to catch her breath.

Jerry flew in to distract Amy and, as soon as she turned to Tackle him, Jane hopped from behind the tree and hit her with Rock Throw. Amy grunted and raised her leaf, her body starting to glitter green as she healed. Jerry flew towards her to use Peck, but she stopped her Synthesis long enough to Tackle. As she did however she began to glow, the bright light startling her sparring partners and drawing the attention of Ellie and Andy.

Nick squinted as the glow brightened briefly, opening his eyes slowly when the light began fading. When he looked at Amy again she was no longer a Chikorita but a Bayleef and was looking down at her own body in awe. The others hurried over to congratulate her and Nick grinned widely and threw his arms into the air.

"Woohoo! Three evolutions in a single week! Eat my dust Ace!" Amy gave him a puzzled look. "Don't ask it's a personal issue."

Amy nodded and looked curiously at Ellie, who had stepped closer and almost seemed to be trying to breathe the Grass-type in. Amy stepped away and Ellie snapped out if her daze, rubbing the back of her head and laughing nervously. The others did a little better against the new, spicy scent coming off their teammate, although Andy seemed antsy for some reason.

"Alright gang," he said, drawing his team's attention, "I've been told that's it's a two day rip through this forest if we follow the path. Try and hold off on battling each other though."

Jerry gave him a puzzled look, but the Paras that scuttled out of the undergrowth suddenly took up his attention. Nick took a step back as Jerry dealt with the Paras and sent it running before continuing.

"In case you were wondering that's why you shouldn't battle each other. If Amy's scent is drawing you in then it'll attract any nearby Bug-types. You'll have plenty of opportunities to train."

With that they continued their trek through the forest, Amy's new body drawing all kinds of Bug-types to them, none of which lasted very long. Andy seemed to enjoy the change of pace and was more relaxed as he and the others beat back Bug-types while Amy took full advantage of the chance to practice attacks in her new body.

 _Man, we are leaving a_ trail _of beaten Bug-types,_ Nick thought, casually sidestepping a fallen Weedle. "Keep up the good work guys. At this rate the Goldenrod Gym Leader will be a peace of cake."

 **(*)**

That's the end of Chapter 11. My apologies if the story seems too slow paced please leave your opinion in the comments below. Or reviews or whatever, I watch too many YouTube videos.


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